The NEW Vanguard! FROSTBITE ISSUE #12 "Something bad this way comes."

Echelon Frostbite frowned. "I once thought as you do. Always looking to do the right thing, to help others. Then Advent came along and started a war. At first it seemed some countries were able to live with them, their promise of technology, peace, health... prsoperity..."

"By the time we realised they were seeking to activate the latent genes in humanity to create a kind of 'super world' to fight their battles for them, it was too late. Since then we have been on the losing side of a war and it changed me. Changed HIM" he said with a glance up. "The Lionheart you know was lost, replaced by a solider and assassin, someone who would do anything to win and had the power to do it with. We tried it his way, to get you and the boy to return with us. It failed. I shall find my own way to return to my world. Saladin I leave you to deal with. I could help, could return to your ways... but that's not me any more. I am a soldier now. I fight. I win, or I die."

"When you started this journey, you were as I am now. One day you will return. All of this..." he glanced around at London and the vibrant city of life that it was. "Will be gone. All you'll have left to fight for is memories and the scraps of humaity that remain. Then you will understand how I am. How he is. How you will become..."

He flew up, taking off!

Atomica snarled "He shall not escape! Varangian! With me! UKCHAMPIONS! Track that man in white! It is NOT Frostbite, desppite any appearance he may give of being him!" she said over the barely functional comm link that relied on piggybacking a mobile phone network that was currently at best patchy as it was overwhelmed!

It seemed to worj though as the UKChampions vehicle turned and took off in pursuit of Echelon Frostbite!

They took off and Battlebug, stood next to Frostbite, watched them go.

"You know, at some point we'll have to stop those two right? We'll need a plan. That Saladin guy IS faster than me, and he uses his powers effectively. He kicked my ass, he can do it again. With your help though, we can beat him. Right now though..."

He glanced at the warehouse. Shamrock scowled "Those idiots! We have to free our people and stop Eurotrash!" He paused, looking at Frostbite and Battlebug. "Can ... will you two help me?"

Frostbite had watched Saladin and his warrior mirror image leave. What Echelon Frostbite had said might well be right. At some point he might have to revert to being a soldier, fighting for a cause not because it was just or right, but because he had to. Until then, there were hostages to rescue and villains to stop!

OOC The warehouse you are overlooking still holds one of the UKChampions hostage in it, and is probably booby trapped. All the while Eurotrash are planning something big... And overlooking ALL of that... Frostbite knows that no matter how dark the clouds are now, soon the challenge will come that puts everything else in the shade!

"Wait!" said Adjutant. The injured hero floated over.

Even as he watched him Adjutant seemed to 'flicker' to Frostbites' eyes, as if he were some projection or illusion. The man himself looked pained, and as if he were struggling, or concentrating hard. "I don't have long."

"What are you talking about Adjutant?" asked Shamrock. "We could do with your help. With the others after those two we still have Eurotrash to deal with and our people to get out of..."

Adjutant raised a hand. "Sorry to interrupt you my friend, but my power is finite, my time short. The injuries I incurred in deep space mean that I must soon - too soon - return to my recuperative state. I broke it off to come here to see if I can help, but I see now I was fooling myself. If it had come to a fight I would have been of no help against those two."

"What are you saying?" asked Shamrock.

"I am saying... I cannot hold this mortal form together for much longer! The man you knew as Albert Watkins - Adjutant - died in space. I, a space traveller, took on his memories and his form to honour him, and I have tried my best as the hero Adjutant, and to a lesser extent the man, for these last years, a decade or so. Now my time is over. When you have defeated Eurotrash, return to UKChampions HQ and call a priority one meeting - all branches, all members. Frostbite, I request that you and your Vanguard attend too."

With that he vanished!

Shamrock frowned. "You know, every time we charged into a fight knowing Adjutant was the big fish in the pond, the heavy hitter, there to back us up, was reassuring. No matter how bad things got, he would have our back. It seems like the one time he needed others to have his back, there was no one there for him." He shook his head. "UKChampions this is Shamrock. If anyone can hear me, I'm going in to try and rescue our people. I request backup!"

He stepped to the edge of the roof and turned back to Frostbite. "Coming?"

Admin wrote:Frostbite had watched Saladin and his warrior mirror image leave. What Echelon Frostbite had said might well be right. At some point he might have to revert to being a soldier, fighting for a cause not because it was just or right, but because he had to. Until then, there were hostages to rescue and villains to stop!

OOC The warehouse you are overlooking still holds one of the UKChampions hostage in it, and is probably booby trapped. All the while Eurotrash are planning something big... And overlooking ALL of that... Frostbite knows that no matter how dark the clouds are now, soon the challenge will come that puts everything else in the shade!

With a deep sigh, disappointed in the beleaguered and cynical hopelessness that took his counterpart to the dark place he'd gone, he turned back to the matter at hand. "Shamrock, we were with you at the beginning and we will be there to help this end. We would be happy to assist. But before this day is done, we have them two..." Frostbite pointed in the general direction of Frostbite and Saladin "Still to deal with together with what our friend, Adjutant here has told us off with the gathering storm."

Then looking at the warehouse, he spoke up all business for now. "Eurotrash were not much without the doppelgangers leading them, but cornered and unaware that they've been betrayed they will be confident and tricky to take down. That and there is still traps laid for us. We're going to have to play this smart, but the one thing that the counterparts couldn't allow for is if they weren't here to keep Eurotrash in line, they might be goaded to do something that helps us. I suggest we go down and let them think they've won, perhaps lull them into a false sense of security and then pounce. If I phase through, or Battle Bug here, blasts through I think we'd likely see the end of your team mates, so I suggest we see if we can play them at their ego card what do you think?"

OOC: My thought is that we go down there and ask them what they want, what they will exchange the hostages for what terms we can come up with. I think/hope we will start to see some cracks appear when greed and plain old revenge surface and it might be we need to let that play out a bit to take advantage of their egos and get them when they are least likely to expect a counter attack.

Sj

Shamrock nods, his green and light green costume wrinkling as he scowled when glancing in the direction of his diminishing team mates.

"Communications down, the team chasing after the 'big bad guys', Bombardier zapped and out of it... without you guys we'd be dead in the water right now. We need to find out what Eurotrash's endgame is. Your ... evil counterpart and that Saladin guy were undoubtedly enough of an inspiration that spurred Eurotrash on to try something this... this crazy." said the Irish Superhero.

The trio looked from the rooftop across the city where spirals of black smoke  wound into the air and there were too many to count! Sirens rang out from everywhere and the gridlocked city streets were nigh on impassable for the emergency services. Ambulances and fire engines were worst hit and there would be loss of life unless they were declogged!

The warehouse where the UKChampion was being held as bait still beckoned though. A life was at risk and more than that - public confidence in the UKChampions had been shaken and was in danger of being shattered! The semi government backed team had always been a media darling but they'd seriously dropped the ball on this one.

"Let's go." hissed Battlebug as he leaped from the roof top. Shamrock fired a charge from his boots to spring him near 100' in the air and a glider pack sprung from his backpack! He sped towards the warehouse and Frostbite kept pace.

Frostbot spoke up 'All of this must be considered as a distraction. Eurotrash's main goal is yet to be discovered.' he warned.

Closer, Frostbite saw several costumed people - men and women. They'd been expecting the UKChampions and one of them called out to Shamrock. "Hey! Super idiots! Don't step any closer unless you want to find out what happens to other super idiots like you!"

A big guy strode forward and snarled. "I see Shamrock... no tricks eh Irish?" he said, accented voice suggesting he was from the continent. "All those others took off after our newest members huh? Good luck with that. They might have boring dress sense with that all white get up but the fast guy ain't no joke..."



He turned to look at Frostbite. "Huh. Seems you got a double, snowman! I heard o you." he looked about. "Vanguard. You messed up our thing at the farmhouse didn't ya?"

He looked at Battlebug. "We got warned 'bout you. Kid. Huh. Flea, right?"

"Battlebug."

"Whatever you call yourself, here's the rules. You make ANY crazy move, try ANYTHING and one of the UKChampions dies. You don't back down after that? Both die an we accelerate our plans." snarled the bad guy.

Frostbot spoke inside Frostbite's head 'This man is Enrique Gonzales, a Spanish supervillain who goes by the name 'Bonbon' which translates as 'Smasher'. Super Strong, durable, enhanced recovery, some resistance to mental attacks and his punch appears to be enhanced when he focuses his power. On the new Levinson/Arkwright scale of superhuman classification this target is: Fighting Ability 6, Destructive Power 6, Durability 5, Miscellaneous Abilites 3. For reference you are generally an 8 across most measures and in some cases a 9. Battlebug is unclassified. The scales are constantly being reassessed and adjusted and I update my database at every opportunity.'

Frostbot continued 'My database shows Gonzales gained his superhuman abilities when the villain known as Professor Power claimed to have discovered a new technique to specifically enhance unpowered humans to metahuman level. Anyone with enough money or resources or even important information could be treated. The success rate is in the forty percentile range. Failure generally means death. Because of the nature of humanity there is no clearly defined way to tell if someone is more likely to succeed or indeed of how powerful they will become.'

"Want me to smack this guy around boss?" asked Battlebug. "Maybe a few weeks eating through a straw then being shipped off to some cell without a door will change his tune." Frostbite glanced at BB. The youngster was clearly angry... a dangerous thing indeed when you could call on the power he could summon!

A woman strode forward "Are you stupid?" she asked. "Did you not hear what was said? Maybe you need a demonstration, boy!"



Frostbot piped up 'Hodepine translates into 'Headache'. She is Norwegian but details are scarce.'

Shamrock held up his hands. "What do you want?"

Bonbon grinned. "First, to see the UKChampions squirm! When the TV channels come back up there'll be mass panic all over this country! They need to see the UKC can't help them and that it's us, EUROTRASH, who will soon be in charge!"

"Of what?" asked Battlebug.

"This whole country, boy!" laughed the muscular villain!

Another man, whom Frostbot identified as 'Blood Diamond' called out "Yo! Dey say dat we ready for de super idjuts ta come in an see what we got!"

Admin wrote:"This whole country, boy!" laughed the muscular villain!

Another man, whom Frostbot identified as 'Blood Diamond' called out "Yo! Dey say dat we ready for de super idjuts ta come in an see what we got!"

Frostbite squirmed inside but didn't show it. They held all the cards and for once he was at a loss as to what to do. If they made a move it would show how they couldn't even rescue their own. Euro trash's pretensions at getting their hands on England were just that. Especially now that they didn't have Saladine and Frostbite to help them.

He spoke to Frostbot to see if he could get any sense of any other signals, or communication up and running. He had to wonder if it was possible to jam it or put it on a loop or stop the destruct signal from being given. He had to play for time and information. Motioning to Battle Bug to stand down, he said
"Wow looks like you thought of everything. We can't make a move without jeopardising our friends and you hold all the cards. So tell me what is it with the standing about waiting then? Haven't you got places to be, government heads to knock together and come to think of it where is your illustrious leaders! I'm sure that whatever it is they are doing without you can't have been important or they'd have included you, right?"

OOC: Got to be another way to crack this nut and not have our team mates decapitated or something.

Sj

Hodepine (Headache) stood with a grin on her face. "All in good time. First, follow me."

"Boss! This could be a trap!" hissed Battlebug.

Shamrock scowled and muttered "I'll follow."

BB glanced at Frostbite who looked about then shrugged, following. Bloodhound jogged over, but when the Eurotrash villains saw him they relaxed somewhat - he was famed for his tracking prowess but otherwise regarded as small fry.

"How is Bombardier?" asked Shamrock as they walked towards the warehouse.

"Not a mark on him. That blast that laid him low appeared to be mental or mystical in nature. I have placed a beacon on him and requested medical evac. I think he'll be fine." growled the grim superhero. "I suggest we pay attention to our own status."

"Frostbite knows what he's doing BH." said Battlebug. "I know you guys are a different team but I suggest we follow his lead."

Shamrock glanced at Frostbite then nodded. "I have no problem with that. Atomica is practically a one woman roadshow extoling his virtues and she has a lot of pull in the team, so that's good enough for me. Even Bombardier scowls and looks away when given the opportunity to disagree when you are mentioned."

"You idiots just jabber all the time?" asked Bonbon/Smasher. "it don't matter. We got new blood an we got REAL power now. Plus we got a plan."

Blood Diamond, towering over the heroes as he walked behind them - though he was clearly trying to keep a reasonable distance and out of arms length - chuckled. "Every udder plan wid dis group was fergotten an turned into a pile of **** as soon as stuff started goin wrong. Dis time? We'll see."

Bonbon stopped and turned, prompting the strange grouping of heroes and villains to pause as they swapped words.

"Maybe if you were as tough as your rep suggests we wouldn't get our asses kicked, you think of that?" snarled Bonbon.

Blood Diamon pushed past Battlebug and Shamrock to tower over Bonbon and growled "Any time you wanna see wat am all bout lil man, am good ta go."

Hodepine/(Headache) moved forward, glancing at the heroes and looking annoyed/embarrassed. "You two can sort that out later! We have to make this lot see we are working together!"

Frostbite could plainly see that Eurotrash, whilst numerous, diverse and powerful, was a group of individuals who were as likely to fight each other as the good guys! That was something he might be able to make use of at some point...

Bonbon and Blood Diamond scowled at each other then stepped aside. Hodepine shook her head and muttered "follow me."

The roller shutter door of the warehouse rose as they approached and the darkness inside was broken by daylight. There were drums of oil or fuel all over the place. Wires ran from each one and Frostbot spoke up 'The place is rigged to explode. The resultant fire would no doubt kill us.'

"That's far enough." said Hodepine. The group paused and their eyes adjusted to look into the warehouse. Enough explosives to make a hole in this part of London which meant people needed to be evacuated! In addition... there was a figure in the middle of all those drums, tied/strapped to a chair and with a device of some kind around the base of the chair. It ran wires to a metal collar and manacles and the occupant of the chair, though powered down, was Crystal Queen. Frostbite had not seen her 'out' of her crystalline form but she was a shapely young woman in what amounted to a one piece swimsuit and presumably normally wore a mask though it had been peeled off. Her face was bruised, and she looked barely conscious, with a split lip and blood having run down the front of her costume.

From out of the shadows of the warehouse came another group of super villains...

Unlike those who had been active in the capital and garbed all in black, these members of Eurotrash were in costumes. It also brought home just how big the membership of Eurotrash was. If they had been dragged together for this caper, they might number... one hundred or more!



Frostbot immediately scanned from his records 'Some of them are not in the databse and the nature of Eurotrash's revolving membership suggests there might never be a 100% record of their roster. This is what I know:

A) Fallox can fly, has a measure of super strength and durability and summons an energy axe that can 'cut through anything'

B) Hellbender is another spanish villain, said to be an actual demon who bonded with a human host. Unfortunately the host expires before long and his appearance has been sporadic until someone is foolish enough to bond with it again.

C) No data on the green armoured villain other than he is called Bombard

D) Synapse, aside from enhanced robotic limbs and organs, can call on impressive mental abilities.

E) Amaranth is able to mimic animals though at a vastly enhanced rate.

F) Atropos is an assassin who is said to 'never miss'

G) Badda Boom can create explosions of varying size

H) Crushclaw is powerful but weakens with time away from direct contact with water

I) Gouger is a formidable hand to hand opponent'

OOC: Wow this isn't intimidating

Frostbite stepped forward, "I can see that you have assembled quite the arsenal here, quite the colourful collection. But you guys are not the real power here, you've always had this kind of clout but not made a dent - so what is different now. Whose put you together and if you're all so cool with that why toy with Crystal Queen, and our other team mate?* Sure looks like you've got the making of a small army, so is this to intimidate us, recruit us, or give us the smack down?"

Frostbite was taking time to find out as much as he could. Although the sheer numbers didn't worry him as it was unlikely that such a group was adept at fighting coherently but that didn't mean that the numbers weren't in their favour. Nonetheless, he was looking for an angle, his chief concern was to get the UK CHampions free. Then they could think about chasing down the chaos outside, as well as working out what to do with this group. Besides which he had yet to see some of the real tough players that they'd seen at the Houses of Parliament.

OOC: *Do we know who the other missing person is? OK looking for an angle here, if they wanted to wipe the floor with us they'd have done it by now, clearly going for them would only cause them to potentially detonate the bomb and worry about who made it out afterwards. Also, I want Frostbot seeking any signals they are operating off, if we can piggy back off that or jam it or get in on it my hope is we can cut their connection to this bomb and or the other as well. Setting either off with the size of explosion it could cause would be very, very bad. Clearly.

Sj

The guy in the suit came forward, shuffling through the others to smile with hands on hips and grinning all the while!

Frostbite couldn't help but feel the guy reminded him of a cheesy gameshow host!

"Well hello! Less UKchampions than we expected and I only recognise Shamrock... is that you Bloodhound? You two though..." his smile faded. "You're the Vanguard. Heard about you." The Demon, eight feel tall and built like a battleship, growled and rolled its neck, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth!

"Just say the word boss." said Battlebug, flexing his fists.

Synapse, the cyborg, sneers. "You got a rep kid but you're outgunned here! We got ALL the bases covered. Once false move from you and the clock starts ticking on this place... PLUS... we got an ace in the hole. Stonelord is in another of these places somewhere in London and anything goes south here? Well, let's just say he goes South, east, west... up... down... you get the idea."

The 'game show host' smiled again and straightened his tie, continuing. "Thanks for that Synapse! Yes, as my compatriot explains we got this. Eurotrash is moving up in the world! You see our normal stomoping grounds - Germany, Italy, Spain, France and all the other places, got very... shall we say uncomfortable when ADVENT rocked up and started hunting us down, so we said... come to Britain! Yep, all we got here is the UKChampions, Vanguard, the Lore Knights (though I don't know if they are a 'thing' anymore) and a few other groups. No Executive, no Justice Battalion... So here's what's gonna happen."

"First, you get your ass out of here with a message. Go see SMITE and the Prime Minister and tell them we will be having a place aorund the table! You don't have any idea how many there are of us... I'll give you a clue... LOADS!" he laughs.

"After you've done that, well, we have a number of people we'd be very interested in having a 'chat' too. Adjutant for one. I got a list somewhere... " he fished about in his pocket. "No matter. I'll email it! The other one I remember is that weapons grade asshole Nowhere Man. That punk has it coming to him, and it's gonna get messy, believe me! The rest of you will fall into line. You see, we got two guys who aren't just powerful, they are smart."

"So, let me give you n example."

"Atomica, Varangian and all the others? Where are they? Oh yeah, chasing Saladin. That's right. He said it would go down that way, so guess what? They are heading straight into a trap! Hahah! How cool is that? That guy is badass, I have to say. Sure, he had to break a few eggs to make this omelette but they'll come round. Well, when they get out of hospital. His buddy, who has a suspiciously similar looking blue dome under his white costume, just like yours in fact... well, he came up with the strategy but tried to suggest caution and being a little less.. nasty shall we say. We took a vote, he was outvoted. The UKChampions are going to be a none thing in the next 24 hours, and you guys? You just became extra hostages!"

"That first thing I said you were gonna do? Yeah, I lied! GET EM!"

The group fanned out and Bombard said something in French over his modulated speakers.

Battlebug glanced about. "Now, Boss?"

OOC If this battle happens (depends what you do) it will be one of the bigger scraps we've run since changing to... heck, probably the biggest since the White House/Farmhouse battles. (Why do all the big fights happen at houses?) but you have a way of dodging no win scenarios so we'll see what you come up with!

Admin wrote:Battlebug glanced about. "Now, Boss?"

OOC If this battle happens (depends what you do) it will be one of the bigger scraps we've run since changing to... heck, probably the biggest since the White House/Farmhouse battles. (Why do all the big fights happen at houses?) but you have a way of dodging no-win scenarios so we'll see what you come up with!

OOC: OK I am in the hospital till late tomorrow ( my other p/t job), so no chance to reply till the evening and working today.  I need to think about this, I am not sure what we can do esp since the others are running into a trap, this reminds me of that police scenario - which like the KM manoeuvre has the officer donning civilian clothing since there is no training for such a situation.  Whilst I am waiting for inspiration to drop like lightning, did Frostbot find any way to hack the signal so Crystal Queen and Stonelord explosive devices could be switched off, or indeed the coms hacked?

I will come back to this either tonight or tomorrow night if inspiration strikes.  I don't mind fighting - after all they can't fight us and set off the explosion here, but they could on Stonelord, however why fight us at all?  Why not just say, stand down or we'll slit Crystal Queen's throat etc?  All very unpleasant but not for them, I guess.  My other thought is to go with - What Frostbite - he's left and Saladin is deserting you...only he might not.  He might decide to camp out so my thought about them being without head honcho isn't entirely true.  Good to know my compatriot hasn't sold himself totally down the river though.  Oh boy, this seems grim.  Right, will reply by tomorrow night.  

Sj

Admin wrote:OOC If I were in the situation (as a player) the options I would see are:

1) Fight. Frostbite and Battlebug can handle most opponents between them. BB is the ultimate brick, Frostbite has a vast range of abilities, powerful blast, amazing Dex, super strong and resiliant, his ice powers etc etc
2) Run. Grab the UKChampions and get the heck outta there. Live to fight another day.
3) Talk, try to wait/ride it out to string them along until an opportunity presents itself...
4) Get closer to Crystal Queen to touch the explosive detonator device and get Frostbot to turn it off.

Frostbite is a smart guy. He doesn't know these bad people but chances are they have a range of abilities. The Physical stuff I would say he doesn't have much to worry about - he really is a heavy hitter these days. Mental... ehhhh ok we may have an issue there and BBug does too. Mystical? Therein lies the real problem. If they zap you with magic you don't have much in the way of defence against that and it will gobble your HP super fast in last ditch defence...

OOC: Thanks for this it never occurred to me that Frostbot could do something by touch - completely forgot that one. I couldn't see a way of leaving without jeopardizing Stonelord and Crystal Queen at their mercy. I couldn't turn from that...

Frostbite said one word, "Now!"

At which point become the semi-liquid state he moved as fast as he could to touch the detonator to transfer Frostbot to reactivate the bomb and get some clue as to how to stop her and Stone Lord being annihilated and a small but sizeable portion of London with them.

OOC: OK I am not really looking for a fight, truth is if we lose we'd really be in deep shtum and with so many hostages, it would only strengthen Eurotrash in their rash move to take on the nation. So once I can get Crystal Queen free, and find a way to keep Stone Lord from becoming shale, I need to hang around. Then when we've got some notion of how we can save them I don't mind trying to get away. But meantime once I've unloaded Frostbot I'll go for the mages and anyone who seems to be the biggest threat to us. Phew, this was really hard to work out, until you gave me the clue about Frostbot. I just couldn't work out a way I felt like I came away as a hero, till you gave me option 4 above.

Sj

"What?"

"Get him!"

"Stop him!"

"Achtung!"

"Prendili!"

The Eurotrash villains sprang into action!

"hmm? Boss? Oh right! Punch time!" laughed Battlebug, rolling his neck and looking about... until he saw the giant 'Demon' burst into flames! Instantly he forgot all other targets and made a beeline for the Demon, knowing full well that his Boss, Friend and Mentor was vulnerable to naked flames!!!

OOC Ok because everything is kind of talking and negotiating and posturing before Frostbite breaks the calm with his declared "NOW!" which Battlebug was expecting I've DOUBLED your roll for initiative. You can still roll garbage (1-4 say) and not do very well on initiative but in actual fact it mostly worked out ok with BB's doubling of 7 and yours of 5 (to 14 and 10) and bumped you up the list a few places.



Gouger moved with superhuman speed, far faster than anyone else on the balltefield! From his arms sprout razor sharp bony protusions with the villains' own blood on them as they burst forth! Still, he barely grunts and leaps at Frostbite!

OOC Frostbite has activated Fluid Form and Power Reserve (total 15 added to OV/RV) so it's unlikely he'll be struck...

Gouger CRIT BLOW AV11 + 5D Weaponry (0D Acro) + Roll(7d12)+0: 11,4,12,11,4,11,2,+0 Total:22 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0:
8,11,+0 Total:41 (52) vs
Ov12 + Crit Blow 4 + Fluid Form 15 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,8,+0 Total:9 (40) Hit +5 (to 25EV) vs RV26 - crit blow 6 (RV20)= 5 RAPs damage
Frostbite is on Body 6/11. Want to absorb any damage (it gets expensive after 4 damage which is 10HP. You have 75HP at the moment)

Despite being nigh on intangible in a liquid form Frostbite feels the nano edge slice through him cleanly and knows that had he not been in his fluid form he might have been killed by that very first strike! Gouger was a serious, serious opponent and clearly had no qualms about killing!

Battlebug sees his friend get struck out of the corner of his eye and struggles to contain his anger! Adrenaline flushes through his body, triggering the strange effect that defies physics and drawing in nigh unlimited energy from an as yet unknown source to channel through the youngsters body! Though very 'cheeky chappy' Frostbite knew the kid had the potential to be not just the most powerful superhero in Britain but possibly the world!

If he survived long enough to control and hone his powers to their ultimate levels...

OOC Adren Surge 24 + 4D Accuracy + Roll(6d12)+0: 8,4,5,7,3,12,+0 Total:20 (44) vs
Highest OV 8 + Multi 4 + Go for Broke +16 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,9,+0 Total:10 (38) +3 (to 27) vs Highest Rv8 + Multi 4 - GFB 24 (-12RV)=39 RAPs

Dex boosted to 47 Str to 45 + one each from power reserve (which is 47)
Dex 48 Str 46
Power Reserve 45 split 25 to Kinetic Absorption (29) and 20 to Energy Absorption (25)

AV48 Dev Attack vs 8 opponents + 2D M Arts (2D Acro) + Roll(4d12)+0: 11,2,11,12,+0 Total:22 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 3,11,+0
Total:36 (84) vs
Highest OV 16 + 2D Acro + 6 Multi + Dev Attack 8 + Roll(4d12)+0: 8,11,2,6,+0 Total: 19 (49) +8 (to 54) vs
Highest RV 20 (Hellbender) + Multi 6 - Dev Attack 12 (RV14)=40 RAPs each.

Battlebug leaps at Hellbender...

"BOY! YOU ARE IN DIRE PERIL! I SHALL FLAY THE SKIN FROM YOUR... OOOFFF!" roared the ten foot high red skinned demon! There seemed the momentary lull, less than a heartbeat in duration then BANG!

A massive thunderclap rang out inside the warehouse and despite its size the entire roof blew upwards and outwards! Everyone else staggered and even Frostbite felt the blow in his incorporeal form! Despite being immune to most earthly weapons AND being able to absorb and ignore kinetic damage the Demon staggers backwards, crashing into a pile of barrels and sending them scattering!

A blur of motion Battlebug thrusts out a fist, a hand, an elbow, a knee, a backhand, a shoulder barge and even a head butt to Gouger, who is fast but practically motionless to the youngster in 'full flight', Bada Boom who doesn't even get chance to summon the balls of energy which he can unleash to huge explosive effect, Blood Diamond who for all his noise was 'only' as impervious as actual diamond and therefore unable to withstand a blow from the youngster (and to be fair, Frostbite would have pasted him too).

The cackling cyborg Synapse is sent reeling and quite unconscious whilst Tatterdamelion gets no chance to show off her prowess! Nor does Amaranth as she flies into the back wall of the warehouse which buckles and tears like paper, sending her through it and finally Mantaray, despite his power and durability, goes down silently and like a rag doll to slide across the floor!

That had taken less than a second and Crushclaw utters an expletive!

Even Shamrock is taken aback and splutters "I'd heard the stories but ... I never realised..."

Bloodhound nods "You have trained the boy well Frostbite." he mumbles, high praise indeed from the normally taciturn vigilante!

Bombard splutters through his helmet "Iz power levels are off ze charts! I hef red across ze board! Never before hef I seen..."

"Ah shaddap." says Hodepine. "I'll take him out with a brain blast!"

A robotic voice intones "This unit is having difficulty scanning the powers of the metahumans designated Vanguardian. Mimicking 'Fluid Form' for defence. Activating Attack Mode, target designated 'Battlebug'."

OOC Attack with Energy Blast 15 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,10,+0 Total:22 (37) vs
OV48 + 2D Acro + Roll(4d12)+0: 5,8,6,3,+0 Total:14 (62) Miss. By a lot.

The blast goes astray and punches through the wall of the Warehouse! "Target Designated Battlebug possesses reflexes and agility higher than this unit can measure. Recommendation. Retreat at maximum velocity."

"I shall SMITE the young fool!" roars Fallox as he summons energy about his arm and holds a rod in his hand! It forms into an Axe and he scythes it at Battlebug!

OOC AV10 + 4D Weaponry + Roll(6d12)+0: 10,6,12,1,4,8,+0 Total:22 (32) vs
OV48 + 2D Acro + Roll(4d12)+0: 6,9,9,11,+0 Total:18 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 5,11,+0 Total:34 (82) Miss. By a lot.

The axe swings down with Battlebug watching as it glides past in slow motion and he steps aside. He had to admit to himself he'd never pushed his Adrenaline Surge harder than he'd done and he knew it was because his friend had been hurt!

Frostbite flies over to Crystal Queen who'd been tipped over by the sonic boom of Battlebugs punch and the Vanguardian places a hand on the device he determined to be the detonator and a blue spark jumped from his finger. Turning, he looks to find his target...

OOC Frostbite is up. The remaining targets are... (Heroes are in bold)



Phew. No lie, that took hours to resolve! Statted up every character and then the rolling and ... basically without Battlebug being crazy powerful and knocking out eight opponents this would have taken ages to resolve... or maybe not. Some of these guys are powerful and though Frostbite is more powerful than any of them simgularly, that fire of Hellbender would have undone him! Not a problem now. You can only use Energy Blast at 16 because of the other actions you've performed this round (move and deactivate bomb)

Admin wrote:

Phew. No lie, that took hours to resolve! Statted up every character and then the rolling and ... basically without Battlebug being crazy powerful and knocking out eight opponents this would have taken ages to resolve... or maybe not. Some of these guys are powerful and though Frostbite is more powerful than any of them simgularly, that fire of Hellbender would have undone him! Not a problem now. You can only use Energy Blast at 16 because of the other actions you've performed this round (move and deactivate bomb)[/i][/color]

OOC: That was an awesome read, thank goodness once you'd done it all it wasn't lost somewhere in the ether before you could post it. Frostbite will absorb 4 damage

Sucking in the after-effects of Gouger's blow, Frostbit aimed wide, hoping to catch him and the others who stood closest to him as they were reeling from Battle Bugs onslaught.

OOC: OK Multi attack on those around even if it's only one or possibly two others, and Devastating attack or Crit depending on what best meets the need with my Energy Ice Blast.

Sj

Stood over Crystal Queen who was still strapped to the chair with what looked like metal wire (lockwire) which would cut into her skin if she tried to strain against it, Frostbite looked about and took aim at the people around him.

Taking aim, he fired with his Energy Blast knowing he would need to change his mental energy around for him to unleash his true power. This would have to do...

OOC Crit Blow. Energy Blast 16 vs Bombard, Atropos, Stygia and Crushclaw + accuracy 4D + Roll(6d12)+0: 12,12,7,6,5,5,+0 Total:24 DOUBLE crikey plus Roll(2d12)+0: 9,4,+0 Total:37 (53) vs

Highest OV 12 + Multi 4 + Crit Blow 4 + 2D acro (3D weapons for atropos) + Roll(4d12)+0: 11,10,1,6,+0 Total:21 (37) 12 difference +5 EV (to 21) vs
Highest RV20 + Multi 4 - Crit Blow 6 (Rv18)=3 RAPs to each.

Atropos is on Body 3/6
Bombard absorbs the damage and is unharmed
Stygia is on Body 3/6
Crushclaw is on Body 11/14

Crushclaw laughs "Ha! That it? You got a killer rep man, sounds like it was all BS!"

Atropos and Stygia don't look as confident and Bombard mutters "Ze data from ze farmhouse fight suggests zis man can hit much, much harder zan zis. I advise caution!"

"Yaaa shaddap Frenchy! In fact, leave 'im ta me and take out the others!" roared Crushclaw!

Bloodhound leaps at Atropos and bears his claws on his hands! Atropos pulls her Katana up, smiling. "We meet again Bloodhound. Do you remember how I humiliated you last time?"

"I remember that I was protecting a downed colleague and you struck me from behind." growled the vigilante. Then he attacked!

OOC AV11 + 3D M Arts (0D Acro) + Roll(5d12)+0: 2,4,4,4,1,+0 Total:8 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 4,6,+0 Total:18 (29) vs
OV12 + 2D Acro + Roll(4d12)+0: 3,4,11,7,+0 Total:18 (30) Bloodhound misses, just!

With agility bordering on stupendous the female assassin just manages to dive aside as Bloodhound swipes at her!

Bombard looks about. "Time to exit, I sink." and he flew straight up through the hole where the entire roof used to be! In moments he is a dot in the sky!

Crushclaw looks up "WHAT? How... GET THE HELL BACK HERE YA BUM!"

Shamrock chuckles. "A French guy running from a fight. Who'd have thought it?"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it off, punk, we still got your buddy Stonelord and when Bombard tells the others to off him, you won't be laughin' then!" snarls Crushclaw.

"Where is he!" roars Shamrock as he leaps at Crushclaw!

OOC Dumb Luck from last round check...

Dumb Luck 9 + Roll(2d12)+0: 4,5,+0 Total:9 (18) vs
OV6 + Roll(2d12)+0: 10,5,+0 Total:15 (21) Uh oh. Shamrock is outta luck...

Crit Blow AV8 + 3D m Arts (0D acro) + Roll(5d12)+0: 3,1,3,9,7,+0 Total:6 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 10,10,+0 Total:20 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 8,8,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE huh, so much for outta luck plus Roll(2d12)+0: 1,12,+0 Total:59 (67) vs
OV9 + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,2,+0 Total:14 (27) +9 (to 16EV) vs RV20 - 6 Crit Blow (RV14)=2 RAPs.

Crushclaw is on Body 9/14

With a series of powerful blows Shamrock hammers away at the normally agile Crushclaw who isn't laughing any more. "You ain't in my league pal." snarls the villain. "But ya punch alright, I give ya dat. You won't punch so well when I snip ya damn hands off!" he spat.

Atropos slashes at Bloodhound!

OOC Av12 + 3D Weaponry + Roll(5d12)+0: 4,3,3,5,8,+0 Total:6 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 7,12,+0 Total:25 (37) vs
OV11 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,2,+0 Total:14 (25) +5 (to 18EV) vs RV11=7 RAPs.

Bloodhound is on Body 4/11

Her katana is a blur of motion and leaves the UKChampion bloodied in her wake!

"I'll take the boy." hisses Stygia and her fires an eldritch bolt at Battlebug!

OOC AV14 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,5,+0 Total:17 (31) vs
OV5 + range 3 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,8,+0 Total:20 (28) +2 (to 16) vs RV7=9 RAPs.
Battlebug absorbs 3 damage (and is on HP51). He is on Spirit 1/7 and is STUNNED

The villain then utters something under his breath, waves his hands and... vanishes from view!

"Snip snip!" said Crushclaw moving in on Shamrock!

OOC Crit Blow AV9 + 3D M arts + Roll(5d12)+0: 7,4,4,3,1,+0 Total:8 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 1,12,+0 Total:21 (30) vs
OV8 + crit blow 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,1,+0 Total:8 (20) +4 (to 19EV) vs Rv9 - 6 CB (RV3)=16 RAPs.
Shamrock goes DOWN and is DYING!

Despite being agile Shamrock is overpowered by the crustacean like villain who steps back from his handiwork as Shamrock collapses to the ground in a pool of blood!

"Think I'll get me some souveneirs" mutters the Villain as he lifts Shamrocks limp arm up to one of his lobster like claws!

Hodepine shouts "You fool! They are worth more to us ALIVE! More hostages!"

"Yeah? They didn't seem too bothered about the ones we got!" snarled Crushclaw.

"But every one we take weakens them and when Saladin takes out those chumps following them, we'll have more aces up the sleeve. ALIVE the guy like him - referring to Frostbite - said." she hissed.

She zaps Frostbite with a mental blast!

OOC Av13 + Roll(2d12)+0: 6,6,+0 Total:12 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 12,7,+0 Total:31 (44) vs
OV9 + range 2 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,9,+0 Total:16 (27) +6 (to EV19) vs RV9=10 RAPs.
Frostbite must absorb 2 damage putting him on 1/9 Mind and he is STUNNED. Frostbite HP 72

Suddenly Frostbite reels and he can't see straight! Frostbot is saying something and his head up display inside his vision eyeline is just a mess of crackling distorted squiggles!

Bonbon steps up. "Hey kid. I get ta be the one that takes you down!" he hissed at Battlebug who was swaying on unsteady feet!

OOC Crit Blow Av11 + 3D M Arts + Roll(5d12)+0: 6,2,10,1,3,+0 Total:16 (27) vs
OV48 + crit blow 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 11,7,+0 Total:18 (70) Missed.

"Not on... your best day... punk..." mumbles Battlebug as he sways aside from powerful but clumsy blows! His bravado is fale though - his mind is reeling and he knows he won't be able to summon up his powers for the next few seconds!

OOC To be continued! It was easy plain sailing for the heroes... then the bad guys fought back now THEY hold all the cards! What will happen next??? Run out of time, update later...

Admin wrote:"Not on... your best day... punk..." mumbles Battlebug as he sways aside from powerful but clumsy blows! His bravado is fale though - his mind is reeling and he knows he won't be able to summon up his powers for the next few seconds!

OOC To be continued! It was easy plain sailing for the heroes... then the bad guys fought back now THEY hold all the cards! What will happen next??? Run out of time, update later...

OOC: Eeek Talk about your Holy Bat Fiend Cliff Hangers!!!! We need the Cavalry!

Sj

OOC initiative...



The Robot known as 'The Living Repository' scanned about.

"Assessing. Targets. Scanning. Target allocated. Firing."

OOC Crit Blow Energy Blast 15 +Roll(2d12)+0: 4,4,+0 Total:8 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 5,3,+0 Total:16 (31) vs
Bloodhound OV 11 + 4 Crit Blow + Range 2 + 1D Acro (2d M Arts) + Roll(3d12)+0: 9,10,11,+0 Total:21 (38) Missed

The blast punched into the concrete floor, powdering it in a six foot crater... but Bloodhound had rolled aside from it!

"Target Designation 'Bloodhound' has supernatural reflexes and agility. Adjusting files." stated the Robot.

"Take out Frostbite!" screamed Atropos. She took aim with her crossbow!

OOC Frostbite is up next though... and he's stunned. You can't perform any action which requires a dice roll and you can't use skills! That limits you to switching power reserve about to increase Fluid Form, Density Increase, Dispersal or even forming an ice dome around you and what remains of your team with Ice Production (automatic action). Alternately you could fly away, surrender or try and talk the bad guys down but they think they are winning, so that last one isn't likely to succeed! Your problem is that the mentallist or the mystic can punch through your defences relatively easily (same for Battlebug) and while you are practically physically invulnerable, you are quite vulnerable to those other kinds of attack...

Admin wrote:OOC initiative...



The Robot known as 'The Living Repository' scanned about.

"Assessing. Targets. Scanning. Target allocated. Firing."

OOC Crit Blow Energy Blast 15 +Roll(2d12)+0: 4,4,+0 Total:8 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 5,3,+0 Total:16 (31) vs
Bloodhound OV 11 + 4 Crit Blow + Range 2 + 1D Acro (2d M Arts) + Roll(3d12)+0: 9,10,11,+0 Total:21 (38) Missed

The blast punched into the concrete floor, powdering it in a six foot crater... but Bloodhound had rolled aside from it!

"Target Designation 'Bloodhound' has supernatural reflexes and agility. Adjusting files." stated the Robot.

"Take out Frostbite!" screamed Atropos. She took aim with her crossbow!

OOC Frostbite is up next though... and he's stunned. You can't perform any action which requires a dice roll and you can't use skills! That limits you to switching power reserve about to increase Fluid Form, Density Increase, Dispersal or even forming an ice dome around you and what remains of your team with Ice Production (automatic action). Alternately you could fly away, surrender or try and talk the bad guys down but they think they are winning, so that last one isn't likely to succeed! Your problem is that the mentallist or the mystic can punch through your defences relatively easily (same for Battlebug) and while you are practically physically invulnerable, you are quite vulnerable to those other kinds of attack...

OOC: Oh man this is bad on so many levels. Right, can we call in help Catherine and the others? Or are coms still down for us? Second, can I switch power reserve over to the fluid form and use my ice power - I'm guessing no. I realise that fluid form may make no difference as we are weak against Psi and Magic, (oh boy I wish we'd at least got the mages onboard before this all blew up. We tried so hard. Fluid form would potentially protect me, but not the others. So...

His mind reading from the attack, that had shocked him because really he'd always had the Psi blasters on his side, or the mages, now he had neither here he was in someone else's playground with someone else's fight and he was losing. Badly! He felt a pang of doubt, he knew that there is always a chance that things blow up but he had to admit they were totally unprepared for this? And it showed big time, trouble was big times don't wait for preparedness. It's make do or go home and he'd made do...now came the payback!

He raced through the options, fly away, talk, increase his fluidity...no that would all be to aid him and being a team leader even of someone else's team meant you went down with the ship even if the others got the lifeboats. He pulled every last reserve he had, he was already fighting not to blackout and allowed his reserves to be dumped into his ice-making powers. Ice was almost his natural form, and he let it out with all he had.

OOC: I'm not sure if Ice control, Icing, or weather control or one of the other powers might be better, but let's bet all on black and dump my power reserve in the power that a) I can use and b) can somehow to make everyone/thing so frigid cold or slippery or suddenly obscure line of sight or something that will give us some breathing space. This is the last desperate (as in I am not a strategic genius so I am totally out of options and I just press the big red button) act of Frostbite to wrest victory from the inferno jaws of defeat and death. I always think, when these things happen that Frostbite my character would turn around and say to me, typing..."Really you want to do what?" This is where players need a sit down with their characters who can do amazing things we cannot and tell us what we should really be doing rather than the dumb knuckle headed things we actually get them to do!

Sj

Frostbite knew this was bad.

Real bad.

He'd been in scrapes before and been beaten almost to the point of death but this time? Bloodhound, Battlebug, Crystal Queen and Shamrock - who was already down and bleeding to death - would go along for the one way trip with him!

"Haha! Lookit dat!" laughed Bonbon as Frostbite staggered drunkenly, swayed, tried to stand upright and failed, the world spinning about him! He could escape, fly straight up.

And leave the others.

Live to fight another day.

Frostbot said something but the words sounded in his head like he was under water and the head up display inside his inner vision was garbled, non nonsensical.

This was it.

A mental attack so powerful it had battered his senses, scrambled them then poured the contents of a dumpster all over the top before spraying it with gas (OOC he's american, so gas not petrol) and setting it alight more or less described the situation he was in. He could try and surrender or...

He switched his internal energy about to his Ice Production power then... let rip.

"hey! Is he trying somemmmmffffffff!" a voice cut off as Frostbite 'pulsed' outwards with an energy wave that created just over thirty two THOUSAND cubic feet of ice!

Distant bystanders would exclaim how they saw an iceberg appear in London, several stories high and uniform, almost perfectly rectangular, but shaped by the warehouse it filled and growing straight up!

Like everyone else in the warehouse Frostbite was encapsulated in ice and couldn't see anything past a few inches! His thermal vision kicked in almost instantly and he saw shapes moving about in small areas of ice that had formed as 'bubbles' around those in the warehouse. Whilst they could move, see, act, they were still enclosed in harder than Vault door steel ice and without the means to get out... they were trapped!

That also meant his companions were trapped, and he needed to get Shamrock to hospital before he died!

Fallox looked about, snarling, then fired his energy at the ice prison all around him!

OOC Energy Blast 14 + Roll(2d12)+0: 8,5,+0 Total:13 (27) vs
OV15 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,4,+0 Total:11 (26) +1 (to 15EV) vs RV15=no damage

And... his energy blast didn't make a dent! "What the ****?" he spluttered, placing a hand on the steaming wall of impenetrable ice all around him!

Atropos pulled her katana from its sheath and slashed at the wall!

OOC CRIT BLOW AV13 +5D weaponry + Roll(7d12)+0: 2,1,5,10,4,4,9,+0 Total:8 DOUBLE plus
Roll(2d12)+0: 3,6,+0 Total:17 (30) vs
OV15 + Crit Blow 4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 10,6,+0 Total:16 (35) Attempt Failed!

Her blade skittered off the wall, barely making a mark nevermind actually chipping it! She started to shout to the others...

Stygia looked about then frowned. He began to weave eldritch patterns in the air and mutter words from a long dead language! Then he vanished!

...and reappeared in the dingy one bedroom flat he called home! Moving to the window he wiped it with his sleeve and looked out. Columns of smoke rising all across London. Streets filled with cars not going anyway. People looting, fires burning... he grinned. The hell with the others. Taking on the UKChampions AND those guys from the Vanguard he'd heard about who kicked ass at the Farmhouse? That was nuts. Bound to go south. Instead he looked across the street to where the shutters were down at the pawn shop/jewellery store then fished about his apartment, pulling a face at rotting food on a plate and coming up with a roll of bin liners, intent on filling them at the store on the other side of the road!

Battlebug breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks Boss." he muttered under his breath as he tried to regain his senses! From experience he knew Frostbite's Ice was harder than he could normally break through without calling on that 'well of power' he had. The well that was denied him right now! He couldn't take another blast like that... whatever it was and knew when Frostbite cancelled or moved the ice or did whatever with it he would have to make a beeline straight for that guy otherwise it was lights out... maybe permanently!

Hodepine looked around in the icy prison, touching a hand to the smooth circular walls and pulling it back instantly! Such cold! Rubbing her hand and looking about, wishing she'd put some warmer clothes on she calmed herself and reached out with her mind... "You cannot escape me Ice Man..." she whispered...

OOC Attempt to establish a telepathic link...

Av9 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,7,+0 Total:14 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 11,3,+0 Total:28 (37) vs
OV9 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,5,+0 Total:6 (15) +7 (to 15EV) vs RV9=6 RAPs

The link fails, Hodepine takes 6 Mind damage (and is on 6/12 Mind) and her Telepathy is reduced to 3!

Hodepine chuckles... "I have you now, man of ice! Remove this... iceberg from all around us or I will..."

Frostbite heard a voice in his head and reeled back! She was going to finish him off! No! NO! NO!

"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" he roared, clutching his skull and shouting as loud as he could!

Hodepine screamed and fell to the floor, head pounding with pain!

Meanwhile Bloodhound calmly looked around and noted the ice, placing a hand on it and nodding with approval. Yes. He had worked with Frostbite before. The Vanguard, with him in charge were more than formidable. They wouldn't be beaten, no matter the odds or the opponent. He made his decision. Fishing in his belt for a small transmitter he placed it to his mouth to send a message... then frowned. The Ice was blocking that too! Grinning under the full face mask he readied himself. Frostbite was smart, tactically savvy and he was a hero. That meant Bloodhound had to be ready to act when the ice vanished!

Then he frowned under the mask. He'd seen metahumans who could generate things like Ice, Fire, Radiation... but what if the Vanguardian couldn't dispel it? Ice like this, harder than any naturally occurring ice could ever be might take a day or more to thaw out! With a sigh he waited anyway, knowing that his claws, whilst sharper than any razor, wouldn't make a dent in the ice! Then he 'huffed'. He wouldn't have to wait long.

The boy.

Bonbon punched at the ice, determined to break through it! In his own personal 'bubble' Crushclaw did the same!

OOC Bonbon...

Dev Attack AV22 + 3D M Arts + Roll(5d12)+0: 9,4,10,3,12,+0 Total:22 (44) vs
OV15 + Dev Attack 8 + Roll(2d12)+0: 6,3,+0 Total:9 (32) +5 (to 27EV) vs RV15 - Dev Attack 12 (RV3)=24 RAPs. Ice is SHATTERED in the warehouse!



All of a sudden the ice exploded in every direction, shattering with unimaginable force as Bonbon unleashed his might!

When the mist/steam cleared there were mountains of ice in the place...

And Crushclaw climbed out from the mass, slipping and sliding as he tried to balance, crunching ice underfoot and looking about. "Where is that blue skinned *******!" he roared, his razor sharp ultra powerful lobster like claws snipping in anticipation!

He saw a hand jutting from the ice and moved a block aside to reveal a bruised and battered Atropos.

"We need... to... get out... of here..." she spluttered, spitting blood.

OOC To be continued in the next round! (Have to go to work)

Admin wrote:"We need... to... get out... of here..." she spluttered, spitting blood.

OOC To be continued in the next round! (Have to go to work)

OOC: Oh Boy another cliffhanger, same time same bat channel. OK no problem I'll be thinking about what I can do, whilst I cool my heals (sorry bad pun)

Sj

Frostbite opened his eyes.

Alive. That was a start.

'Scanning.' said the robotic voice in his mind. Frostbot continued. 'Physical condition 90% intact. Recommend time to rest, approximately 16 seconds before full status can be guaranteed. Mental condition unknown. Neural Synapses have suffered some un-quantifiable damage. External scan. Please rotate your he... ah. We are buried under tons of ice. I took the liberty of activating your increased density ability to raise your strength and durability beyond their normal parameters.'

Frostbite moved an arm. The ice shifted, dozens, maybe hundreds of tons, and without any real effort on his part. He was still under ice but knew standing up quickly would send ice flying in every direction. The villains might not be able to find him as yet so there may be an opportunity to rest but Shamrock didn't have that luxury. Maybe Bloodhound and Battlebug were in trouble too. Frostbite was ... strong. Even he did not know the limit of his lifting capacity but it was clearly more than a few hundred tons.

The thought of Battlebug lying crushed, broken, bleeding under tons of ice filled his mind. Like him the boy had been struck down and unable to call on his full abilities. The fact that there wasn't world war 3 going on suggested he'd not moved from the icy prison as yet. Hopefully not an icy tomb...

OOC initiative...



You are buried under the ice but with Density Increase turned on Strength is bumped to 15 (and Resistance to 16). Fluid form is still the best bet in a fight (better not to be hit AND be resistant) but density increase when you pour it on (with power reserve) can turn you into a Superman buster.

You're up.

Admin wrote:Frostbite opened his eyes.

Alive. That was a start.

You are buried under the ice but with Density Increase turned on Strength is bumped to 15 (and Resistance to 16). Fluid form is still the best bet in a fight (better not to be hit AND be resistant) but density increase when you pour it on (with power reserve) can turn you into a Superman buster.

You're up.[/i][/color]

OOC: You know it occurs to me this power to make so much ice and trap people, if I'd done it straight away might have really stopped things before they got started.  I also think it has the potential to be abused for that reason.  It's like the old Judge Dread Riot foam, that sets hard and stops people without suffocating them.  And that is one difference, an ice prison does have the potential to be lethal.

Frostbite gathered his wits and gathered in what he could from the ice around him.  He couldn't remember a time when he had laid so much down so thickly in such an emergency.  He began to dissolve the ice around him, slowly changing its molecular nature as he allowed the molecules to return to their state before he captured them in an instant.  

Having remembered the positions of people about him, he suddenly thought to himself that he could 'plot a route' around the villains and dissolve ice to get to Battle Bug and the others.  He was still concerned about Shamrock, frozen or not, his life was ebbing away as he thought through his rough plan.

OOC: OK since I have Frostbot back, phew, I will take account of where the villains last was, and then 'tunnel' or dissolve and remove ice so I can pass by them whilst leaving them still blocked.  I am trying to do it carefully so that the other two do no see me, in as much as that is possible.  Once I get to Shamrock I want to administer the best first aid I can use my skills to do so.  And then grab Battle Bug and Crystal Queen.  We are still without Stone Lord, so whilst doing this I will want to ask Frostbot what he did and if we are safe from explosions and if Stone Lord is locatable!!!

I am thinking exit strategy before we lose any more people but I want to retreat with the ones we came for including Stone Lord, even if he is in another location if possible.  

Sj

OOC To use the Ice Production power as you've done - simply to fill a volume of space with ice - is an automatic (non attack) action with no dice roll required. If you wanted to trap people in ice (restrict their movement and breathing) that would be an attack (dice) action with the real potential of killing your targets.

Been decades since I read (or played) the Judge Dredd Comic/Game but I vaguely remember the gizmos they used in block wars and so on. My group of players didn't take too well to be told what to do by the Justice Department or indeed having to be the good guys. Teenage gung ho role players used to doing what they like and when they like it (from D&D type gaming) didn't make for good law enforcers...

With Frostbot overlaying a path to where the others - Frostbot, Bloodhound, Shamrock and the bound/gagged Crystal Queen - were, he set his mind to moving the ice and shaping it into a tunnel that the others could use.

With his thermal vision he could see - just - other shapes in the ice and knew that he could only see through the ice because it was for the most part broken up. The ice he created was harder than steel and more durable than any naturally occurring ice which meant it was difficult even for him to move the stuff!

OOC Switching Power Reserve to Ice Control boosts it from 5APs to 15APs. He doesn't need to move all 15APs of the ice and only needs to shape/change about 9APs in total to make a tunnel through the broken up (but still near solid) hundreds of tons of ice in this place.

AV15 + Roll(2d12)+0: 11,9,+0 Total:20 (35) vs
OV9 + Roll(2d12)+0: 11,10,+0 Total:21 (30)
+3 (to 18EV) vs RV9=9 RAPs. Success.

Moving smoothly in his fluid form now he flew/shaped the ice as he went to make an ice tunnel perfectly round and shaped and around 4-5' high. Someone would have to crouch/crawl or slide on their belly to get through the tunnel but to go any wider/taller would risk opening it up to one of the villains in the ice...

He came across Shamrock first and grimaced at the UKChampion lying prone and looking extremely pale. Shaping the ice and moving on he encountered Bloodhound who nodded with a grunt and started back towards the place where Shamrock was then he came across Battlebug...

"Boss!" exclaimed the youngster.

"No time to stop BBug!" hissed Frostbite, shaping and flying steadily as he created the tunnel to Crystal Queen.

She was on her side on the chair and under some pressure from crushed ice. Unlike the others she didn't have any measure of superhuman strength and indeed was wearing a collar which nullified her powers...

Her eyes widened then she breathed a sigh of relief behind her gag. Frostbite was a hero she recognised and respected having worked with him before. He pulled the gag and she practically sobbed in relief. "Oh thank goodness! Thank you Frostbite!" she said.

OOC you're out of actions there but next round can use Frostbot to deactivate the power sapping collar on her neck. The Explosives all about are inert because Frostbot jumped into the detonator, did his thing then jumped straight back out.

Fallox lit the area around him with the energy weapon he wielded. He must admit he was impressed. He'd heard stories about the Vanguard after the 'game changing' Farmhouse caper went pear shaped. He'd not been surprised - Eurotrash was a constantly shifting roster of people who didn't like working or playing nicely with others. He'd signed on this time because there were a couple of new players and to be honest, they were heavy hitters indeed. The first part of the plan had gone crazy well - shut London down with EMP bombs. The place was gridlocked, the populace panicked and the media in a frenzy. Never before had Eurotrash attained this level of success or notoriety!

Now he was starting to have doubts. He'd seen a situation where they were in complete control - they'd smacked the heroes down, outnumbered them ... they'd won! Now? He shook his head. Glancing at his arm he formed an ice pick and started smashing at the ice. It was as hard, harder than steel. His axe though? It could smash through any steel!

He stared at the white mass in front of and all around him then at the chips on floor where his first blow had struck.

This might take a while.

OOC AV16 + Roll(2d12)+0: 4,3,+0 Total:7 (23) vs
OV15 + Roll(2d12)+0: 10,5,+0 Total:15 (30) Failed

Crushclaw pounded away. He'd get out then get hold of that scrawny blue skinned guy and snip his head off! No, something else.... he grinned. There would need to be cameras present to watch him. He'd have the baddest rep going and all the heroes would rush off crying to their mommies! The others in Eurotrash would know he wasn't to be messed with... or he'd castrate them! He laughed to himself and slashed at the ice...

OOC AV15 + Roll(2d12)+0: 9,11,+0 Total:20 (35) vs
OV15 + Roll(2d12)+0: 6,10,+0 Total:16 (31) +3 (to 18) vs RV15=3 RAPs. Crushclaw squirms/smashes his way out of the ice and climbs out on top of the mass.

Crushclaw is out of the ice.

Getting out of the smashed up ice mountain hadn't been easy but Crushclaw pulled himself out, slipping and trying to balance on the shifting mass. He looked all about. There was ice everywhere... crap! how powerful was that guy?

"Scanning." said Living Repository. The scale and breadth of abilities that superhumans possessed never ceased to be of interest to the machine. Having taken on a vaguely humanoid form so as to be acceptable within the ranks of the villainous fraternity it now considered the choices it had made. First it had seemed more advantageous to be a villain as the rules barely applied to their code of conduct and offered the maximum freedom to act, learn and grow. However its time in Eurotrash had been less successful than predicted. As part of the team that planned and planted the EMP bombs the sentient mechanoid had seen its plan executed with a 97.4% success rate. Those odds were changing now and it considered other options.

Switching an internal circuit, rerouting power conduits and firing neural synapses, the Android simply... vanished! It reappeared in the lockup/safehouse it used to maintain and repair its systems. The Eurotrash villains would call the Living Repository a coward or consider it an enemy for 'running out' on them but that didn't matter. It concentrated again and changed shape to a pleasing female form then considered new names and backgrounds to use. All of that had taken 2.147 seconds. Instant to most people, an age to a perfect automaton such as herself.

Atropos grunted. Without superhuman strength she had only her partially broken Katana holding up the weight of hundreds of tons of ice! Unbreakable? Pah! She would - if she got out of this mess - visit Ramirez and show him exactly what she thought of his nano polymer alloy weapons! Or... she could use it as a bargaining tool to drive down the price... First she needed to get out. With no special powers or means to escape other than enhancing the weapons she used she was reduced to having to wait till the ice thawed or... "Help!" she yelled.

Billy/Battlebug was so glad to see his friend, leader and mentor. He knew he'd come through! It didn't matter how strong or fast he could make himself, Battlebug knew Frostbite was the real deal. A man who could turn any situation - no matter how dire - into a fighting chance. He had to admit when he'd seen Frosty go down on a knee with that mind blast he knew they were in trouble, then he'd been zapped with that magic fire... never felt anything like it! He figured he'd be able to shrug off explosives, grenades, maybe even a tank round or two (OOC Battlebug doesn't know his true limits. They are somewhat higher than that.) but that blast had seared straight through him! Even now he knew another like that would finish him off!

Still, Frostbite had created a tunnel to slide through and he let off a "Whoop!" as he dived onto his belly to slide through the tunnel into the next 'bubble' in the tons of ice to where Frostbite - and Crystal Queen - were. Crouching, he leaned over and pulled the power inhibitor collar off CQ then she herself snapped the metal cords binding wrists and ankles as she changed into her Crystal Form which was superhuman strong and durable!

"Thanks!" she gasped. "To both of you! I thought I was a gonna!" A crystal tear dropped from her cheek with a 'plink' and she moved to a crouching position, the three of them in the temporary sanctuary before all hell broke loose again.

Bloodhound reached Shamrock and checked vital signs. Not good. The normally taciturn vigilante snarled "Stay with me Irish, we'll get you out of this."

He tried his personal communicator. The backup one, as his UKC supplied comms had been fried by the EMP pulses. The first they'd withstood but the circuits were still dealing with that when the others struck. Static. At least it still worked and suggested that whilst his worked, others might too. It would take the rebooting of computer systems in the Phone networks to get it up and running first though. That meant Shamrocks' only chance of survival was getting him to a hospital, which would be a push for Bloodhound on his own with Eurotrash around.

Under the mask he grinned. He'd worked with Frostbite and the Vanguard before and turned to Shamrock. "You'll be alright boyo, just hang in there."

Bonbon dusted ice off himself. "Got to admit, that is a LOT of ice." he muttered as he stood outside the sprawling mountain of ice that had split the warehouse at the seams and spread out over most of the industrial estate. At its peak - where the warehouse had been - it was thirty or more feet high. He picked up a chunk and crunched it in his hand. Ha! Then he looked at the splintered and smashed concrete floor at his feet. He was at his maximum density and weighed over a hundred tons! He was using his maximum power to smash this stuff! "Shame we can't turn this into a weapon or sell it as armour or something." he grunted. He was too stupid to apply logic that ice eventually melts.

Then the floor, already bowed from all the weight, fell from underneath him!

CRASH!!!

Hodepine looked over to where there was a crashing sound and the ice shifted, giving gaps she could put a hand, then an arm through. She started telekinetically moving chunks and scrambled out. Her costume was torn up and there hadn't been much of it to begin with, but other than bruises she was ok. She looked at the mass of ice and shook her head. The hell with this! The heroes must be dead under all that! She walked over the crater/hole Bonbon had fallen through and saw him lying at the bottom of an ice filled mess... on top of railway tracks! Electricity sparked and frazzled all about him but for the most part the EMP had wiped out the underground too. That gave her an idea.

"Bonbon! Listen up! No, don't jump out of there! This is what I want you to do!"

OOC Phew! Hope I don't lose all that! Frostbite, Battlebug and Crystal Queen are up. You are under the mass of ice, in a bubble connected to other bubbles by smooth round ice tunnels. Shamrock needs help and you have no idea how many bad guys are still out there...

Admin wrote:"Bonbon! Listen up! No, don't jump out of there! This is what I want you to do!"

OOC Phew! Hope I don't lose all that! Frostbite, Battlebug and Crystal Queen are up. You are under the mass of ice, in a bubble connected to other bubbles by smooth round ice tunnels. Shamrock needs help and you have no idea how many bad guys are still out there...

OOC: Wow that was awesome.  Never let it be said Paul that I am not grateful for the way you put this all together.  I'll need time to respond, so will do so tonight.  

Frostbite turned to the others, "First order of business is we need to get Shamrock to a Hospital. Then we have to think about Stonelord. We've given them a nasty surprise but this ain't over by a long shot. If we get tagged by the mage or mind types we, not to mention you might be vulnerable. We need a distraction so that any that are free, can go after them. As much as I know you'll all hate to duck and run, Shamrock and Stonelord are our priority. Then we can clean up this mess."

Looking around the group, Frostbite said "Battle Bug, you take Shamrock I'll open space and see if I can create enough distraction to give them someone to focus on. Any thoughts?"

OOC: OK I think we see if we can get the team away and I'll seek to distract Crush Claw and the others who've escaped. I'll remain in fluid form, and once I've opened up a way for the others to get out, away from where the villains appear to be. Then, I'll see if I can shift stuff around to make it uncomfortable for them - don't need to crush or kill just hamper. So put what I need of power reserve into it, and remain in fluid form to move around and use the environment as a way to hamper them. If I can then I'll make a dash for it and meet at the hospital.

Sj

Sj

Bloodhound thought for a moment then said "Sometimes the victory in a battle is not the vanquishing of your opponents but simply survival in the face of overwhelming odds."

"That kind of sounds like zen rubbish for 'lets get out of here before they kick our ass again' " said Battlebug.

The impassive full face mask turned to face the youngster then the voice growled "Putting it that way, then yes, we should leave to regroup before we get our asses kicked again."

Crystal Queen looked ready for a fight but she'd been beaten up, depowered, humiliated and threatened. Despite the desire for revenge Frostbite could tell she was slightly in shock and probably needed help too.

"There are several secure hospitals that we use when people are injured and need medical assistance with security cleared Doctors on hand." she said, trying to gather her thoughts. "I'll go with Battlebug."

Battlebug/Billy scowled. "Now hang on a minute. If you think I'm going to leave you here Boss..."

Frostbite gave a look that said 'I'm the boss'. The youngster held up his hands to placate and continued "I just think CQ here can fly, right?"

"Right." she answered.

"She takes Shamrock as quickly and safely as she can to a hospital, Bloodhound goes with her and we smash these jerks into mulch. Get them to talk and tell us where Stonelord is. I know, I know, they got a wizard and a brain zapper out there but we know who they are so if we hit them first..."

"That is a risky strategy." said Bloodhound. "If either of you fails you may both fall, and without myself or Crystal Queen to back you up..."

Skrrzzzz "Frostbite...Skrrrrzzzzz..." said the communicator on Frostbite's belt.

He glanced at Battlebug then pulled it off his belt to hold up to his mouth. "Catherine? Are the comms back up again?"

"Skrrzzzz... Not really. We had to land the flyer then with Wandys direction rerouted the power to skrrrzzzz ...tion systems and we can  skrrrzzz. It is NOT a secure line though so mind what you... skrrrzzzz. I've got the gang here and we're... skrrzzzzz... on your location. We can be there in skrzzzz... How do you want to skrrrzzz this?" she replied.

"Skrrrzzz this?" muttered Battlebug, chin in hand. "Never heard it called that before."

Crystal Queen gave him a playful shoulder punch and he grinned before turning to Frostbite. "Let the UKC get their guy out Boss. We got this." he hissed, looking determined.

Admin wrote:Crystal Queen gave him a playful shoulder punch and he grinned before turning to Frostbite. "Let the UKC get their guy out Boss. We got this." he hissed, looking determined.

Frostbite thought a moment before nodding, "Go and God's speed. Battle Bug and I will wait for backup and see if we can't end this before it gets worse. We'll not hear to settle scores, just stop this from escalating we still have a hostage to find."

Turning to the youngster Frostbite looked to him and then the others, "Ready!"

OOC: OK I will open a path for Crystal Queen, Bloodhound and Shamrock to escape through. Once Billy is powered up, we'll follow them and I will seek to shift the ice so that we can destabilise it and make it hard for those we face, to get a bead on us. I am aiming to spoil their aim, and whilst I do that, BB can go in and make sure we get this. I will also call Catherine in on our location, but warn her she and the team will be coming in hot, to a hostile situation.

Sj