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Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: N/A | Location: Downtown!

"I'd pay the fine, Mastermind. It'd be a crying shame for a beauty like this to get wrecked."

Raiken stepped out from behind the sports car, crimson lightning dancing across her body. The eerie red contrasted nicely with the blue glow that Styx was providing. She ran a finger across the ruby red paint as she walked around the front of the car, then leaned against the driver's side door.

She whistled appreciatively as the engine purred, "Nice choice for a getaway vehicle. Zero to sixty in, what, two seconds? Three?" A mocking smile crosses her face. "I don't think it'll be doing much of that in impound."

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Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: N/A | Location: Downtown!

As the sports car peeled out, Raiken stumbled backward as her support suddenly disappeared. She almost fell unceremoniously onto her back, but caught herself at an impossible looking thirty-five-degree angle and straightened herself with uncanny ease.

Two of Mastermind's car puppets charged towards her from opposite directions, their programming seeing a chance to strike, but Raiken was ready for them. As the first one closed in, she extended a hand outward. The roar of the engine choked into a muffled whine as the car skidded to a sudden halt. Not even bothering to look at the second, she held it back with her other hand. The two cars struggled for a few moments longer, then their engines gave out with an awful grinding sound and twin curls of smoke.

Blowing a bit of hair out of her face, Raiken focused in on Mastermind. Her tactical computer ran a full spectral analysis and came up with no less than thirteen highly lethal methods of disposing of the villainess. Most of them focused on dealing traumatic damage to her augmented head. Raiken wasn't surprised. Brainiacs always did hate it when you roughed up their money-maker.

Mocking grin still in full force, she called out, "I think the only gears getting ground are these motors, Mastermind! Now are you gonna come quietly..." She cocked an eyebrow. "Or are we doing this the hard way?"

Assess posted:

Raiken (Tricky) - Today at 6:23 PM
/r 2d6+2
SidekickBOT - Today at 6:23 PM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+2 = (3+3)+2 = 8

How can we end this quickly? - "Mastermind doesn't like getting hit in the head, she'll probably surrender to protect her cybernetically enhanced brain."

Tricky fucked around with this message at 04:15 on Apr 20, 2017

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: N/A | Location: Downtown!

Still focused entirely on their foe, Raiken didn't see much of what was occurring with Styx and Kon. She retrieved a pair of high-tech pistols from her thigh holsters and leveled them at Mastermind. Bolts of crimson lightning shot forward from the twin barrels and blew smoking holes in the asphalt beneath Mastermind's feet.

Raiken's eyes hardened, "That was a warning shot. The next one is going to fry that circuit-board you're so proud of, Mastermind. You really want to push your luck?"

Mastermind grinned, "Are you sure that your targeting computer is calibrated? It looks like you just missed to me!" The noise from the cars around Kon melting drew her attention and her confidence melted away. "I miscalculated...!" She started to back away and Raiken, true to her word, began launching a barrage of shots at her. The shuffle backwards turned into a full retreat as she adeptly dodged each shot with incredible precision. As the smell of ozone filled the air, she reached the safety of the building behind her. Thick steel doors dropped down the moment she crossed the threshold. The windows followed suit and soon the office building seemed more a brutalist fortress than a beacon of business.

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 1/5 | Conditions: N/A | Location: Downtown!

Raiken looked at the steel wall with a critical eye. This was Mastermind's gambit? She was usually a little better prepared than that. This wasn't about to stand up to her strength, let alone her ghostly companion. As soon as Raiken thought of the undead girl, Styx rushed through the steel barrier with little more than a faint hint of a sniffle. Was she...? What had happened? Raiken shook her head, cracked her knuckles, and stepped up to the wall. She could see the current rippling underneath the steel, but it wasn't about to stop her. Especially not if Styx was in trouble.

Unleash posted:

SidekickBOT - Today at 11:49 AM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+1 Unleashing Raiken's powers! = (6+3)+1 = 10

Raiken easily shoved her hands through the reinforced steel plating and began to peel it apart as easily as one might peel an orange. The steel sparked and sent arcs of electricity playing across her skin, but Raiken paid that no attention. As soon as electricity burned a patch of skin and revealed the chrome beneath, it would rapidly knit back together. After a moment, she had a large enough hole opened up to jump through.

The interior was dark, but that posed little trouble to her enhanceements. Her HUD swapped to night-vision and highlighted a strange particle flow that was converging on... Styx! It looked like she was in pain! Raiken looked around. There were particles flowing from all over the building. This wasn't going to be pretty. If she wanted to stop them all, it was going to take some extreme measures. Red lightning began to crackle around her fists. If she could just find the nearest power hub... A quick moment later, a thick bundle of wires was highlighted by her tactical display. Not stopping to think of the consequences, she slammed both fists through the wall and began to send all the energy she could produce straight into the building's wiring!

GM posted:

The building has a capacitor that stores all the energy anyone would use to overload its grid, then unleashes it as backlash once it pinpoints the source, ie Raiken. They call it a Superstunner. The superstunner also magnetizes to lock the external threat to its point of contact. Raiken's got wires all magnetically grabbing her, and you can hear an electric whine rising in pitch: the superstunner charging up.

As wires whipped out and began to grapple her, Raiken loudly growled, "Mastermind...! You're gonna pay for trying to hurt Styx! Nobody..." The red lightning began to weaken a bit as the capacitor tried to suck her dry. "...messes with my friends!"

Defend posted:

SidekickBOT - Today at 12:14 PM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+3 Raiken defends her love! (+Danger, +1 love) = (2+1)+3 = 6

When Kon teams it, choosing to take Influence over Styx and expose Raiken to danger from the Superstunner.

Tricky fucked around with this message at 22:51 on Apr 20, 2017

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: N/A | Location: Brutalist Fortress!

For a moment, the flickering lightning around Raiken died completely. Then Kon's words hit her. Her teeth audibly ground together, a shower of sparks issuing forth from her mouth. She bit out, "What-" The electricity flared back to life, more potent than before. "-do you-" Red lines began to snake up through the walls. "-THINK-" The energy surged through the wiring, tripping breakers across the building. The cameras died and the particle streams bombarding Styx fell silent. "-I'M DOING!"

Raiken panted for a second, torn between anger and a dawning realization that she had probably been needled for that very reason, when a high pitched hum started emitting from the hole in the wall. She looked at it in confusion, realizing that she was stuck to the wiring, then began to struggle against the magnetic pull. Kon managed to cut through a few of the exposed wires, but he couldn't get them all. The hum fell silent, then all the energy she had sent rampaging through the building's wiring thundered back into her body with a sudden crack.

Crimson lightning danced over her body for a few moments, Raiken twitching a bit under the onslaught, then she laughed as it faded. "Is that it? That's your play, Mastermind? It's gonna take more than a little voltage to take me out."

Take a Powerful Blow posted:

SidekickBOT - Today at 4:21 PM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6 Powerful Blow = (1+3) = 4

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 2/5 | Conditions: N/A | Location: Brutalist Fortress!

If there was one distinct advantage to come from the Superstunner's attempt to fry her, it was that Raiken was absolutely full to the brim with energy. She made that most evident as she charged up the stairs towards where she could vaguely see some action in the elevator forty-some-odd floors up thanks to the wide suite of sensors feeding into her vision. As she skidded out of the stairwell, she leveled both guns at Mastermind. Styx was looking extra rough, which wasn't helping Raiken's mood any. Her eyes flashed with anger and her guns began charging up.

Of course, Styx laid out some story about how it was all for a good cause and that Mastermind could totally fix them, maybe, and they should give her a chance. On the one hand, Raiken found it patently ridiculous. The Foundation had replaced almost all of her with machines and strange, alien organs. There wasn't exactly much left of her to fix. On the other hand, she was super smart. It wasn't unbelievable that she might be able to do something for Styx. At the least give her some super-gadget that would help her fit in better.

Her anger warred with Styx's plea for a few moments, then Raiken sighed and holstered her guns. "Fine, we'll do it your way. But Mastermind..." Raiken's eyes narrowed. "I'll be watching. If you ever do something to hurt Kon or Styx like that again, I will personally take you down. Hard."

Accepting the provoke.

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 3/5 | Conditions: Guilty | Location: Back at the Base!

Back at the base...

Raiken looked at Styx, a hint of concern on her normally cool countenance, "Hey, uh, Styx. You okay? You were real quiet on the way back."

Styx posted:

A moment passed. Not a long one, but a fairly telling one in the respects of the whole ‘are you okay’ thing. Finally, Styx answered Raiken.

“Nah, I’m just, totally fine. I appreciate the concern though!”, she tried to keep her voice peppy, as always, but there was a slight tremble. And then there was another pause, as if she wanted to say something, but was not totally sure if she should, “I mean, what's there for me to feel bad about anyway, it’s not like I almost hurt Kon super bad and am now helping out the perp in some soft-hearted harebrained idiot plot of mine no is it?”, she finally said. Well, more like angrily spat.

Styx turned her head to the side, and then quickly continued, as if desperate to change the subject, “Hey… um, so anyways. I saw that thing you did for me back there. Thanks a whole bunch. It meant a lot to me. It really did…” she grabbed Raiken’s hand, and smiled, even if in an uncharacteristically strained manner, “And like, I owe you. I do. How about I treat you to some burgers later? Then we’ll be even, hehe.”

She let go of the hand, “Haha, just joking, of course.”

Raiken held onto Styx's hand. For a moment, she didn't say anything. Didn't trust herself to say anything. It wasn't as if she knew what had happened outside the building, after all, and that seemed a big part of why Styx was upset. Finally, shyly, she said, "I don't want to see you getting hurt. Kon, either, but you're..." The reason I feel like more than a weapon? The one person I feel like can truly understand me? "Important. Really important."

She looked away, took a deep breath, then looked back. "I don't think you're wrong to give her a shot, Styx. I... Well, if she can help you, that would be worth it. And Kon is fine. I mean, he still had enough energy to needle me, run up and down like eighty floors of stairs, and lie to the police. Don't worry too much about what could have been."

Comfort/Support posted:

SidekickBOT - Today at 8:11 AM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+1 Comfort Styx (+1 love, +1 influence) = (2+2)+1 = 5

GM posted:

slydingdoor - Today at 8:11 AM
looks like the ball's in my court
take a condition

After the words sat out there for a few moments, Raiken looked away, sighed, and tugged her hand free. "I should have been there, anyways. Forget it. Let's just..." God, she felt awful. What kind of friend was she if she wasn't even there when Styx needed her? "...call it even. I need to run some calibrations on my gear. Let me know when Mastermind is ready."

Raiken marks Guilty.

Tricky fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Apr 22, 2017

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 4/5 | Conditions: Guilty | Location: Viking Auto Salvage

Raiken, likewise, let out a disgusted breath and rolled her eyes at Kon's transparent flirtations. She thought about reminding him that Styx and herself had cornered Mastermind pretty quickly, let alone the way she had easily diffused her traps inside the office building, but figured it wasn't worth it. If Styx wasn't going to fight him on that, what right did she have? It wasn't like she had been there for what was bothering Styx, after all. No, better to stay quiet and follow the plan. Raiken nodded in confirmation, "You got it, Styx. I'm on him."

Once she heard the banshee's wail, Raiken burst into motion. She fired a few shots at White — she could see him starting to do something to Styx, even if she wasn't sure what — and forced him to duck down out of her line of fire.

Teaming Styx's Direct Engage!

Before he could fully turn and face her, Raiken was on top of him. Her tactical computer was almost screaming to simply render him unconscious with a measured blow to the head, but that wasn't her style. Not now, not today. She really needed to show Styx that she was a good teammate. The best teammate, even. For that reason, Raiken chose to go with a much more elaborate attack routine. An imposing combination of gunshots and flurries of kicks and punches that was sure to impress her!

Well, it might have. If it had worked. White was managing to be a few steps ahead of her. He danced out of the way of her attacks with ease and her shots did more to trash his hideout than actually inflict any harm. Windows were shattered, walls pitted, and pillars devastated. It was more luck than skill that saw his attempts at a counter-attack foiled by the rumbling of the building's roof as pieces of it started to rain down on top of their heads.

quote:

SidekickBOT - Today at 9:52 AM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+3 Impressing Styx by Directly Engaging White (+1 love) = (1+1)+3 = 5

Marking Potential and using In A China Shop to Resist/Avoid Blows.

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 4/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Insecure | Location: Viking Auto Salvage

Raiken reeled as memories flooded through her. Some that seemed her own, others that couldn't possibly be. They felt so real, though, that she couldn't help but process through them. Of particular note were seeing White lift Mastermind from the tank — she had been altered by the Foundation too? — and the memory of White invading the doctor's mind. She didn't possess free will? Couldn't? But... That couldn't be right. White had interrupted her brainwashing when he attacked. If she didn't have free will, why would they need to have done that?

Mastermind gains Influence on Raiken -- she's not just another villain anymore.

As Styx stymied the nanocloud and Kon restored power to the salvage facility, Raiken finally shook off the memories. The timely message from Mastermind helped solidify her resolve. This battle was a lost cause unless they could separate White from the Hub. He might fancy himself a father figure, but right here and right now? He's messing with the wrong superheroine's team. And nobody, nobody poo poo-talks Styx like that. Raiken sent a wild spray of energy bolts towards White as she started charging towards the Hub. It may be under his control now, but if she could get it to Mastermind...

Raiken skidded to a halt by the Hub, holstering one gun while continuing to spray fire at White with the other. With her free hand she lifted the Hub off the ground, almost effortlessly, and sent it flying over to where Mastermind was hiding. She looked at its flight path for a moment, satisfied, before White filled her head with another memory.

quote:

SidekickBOT - Today at 3:30 PM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+2 Raiken directly engages White! = (5+1)+2 = 8

Taking the Hub from him! Hard Move - "When you grab it White sends you another telepathic vision of your forgotten past–it's of the Hub using its spider arms in surgery, to replace your old body with its new cybernetic parts. Take a condition."

This one was bad. She saw the Hub stripping the flesh from her body, removing meat and putting cold, hard chrome in its place. It suddenly occurred to her that she was now acutely aware of how little of her original body remained. Was it really so unreasonable to think that she might be under some sort of influence? Was she really her or was it just some simulated personality? If she could sweat, she'd be breaking out in a cold one right about now.

Raiken marks Insecure.

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +1 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: +2 | Mundane: -1
Potential: 4/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Insecure | Location: Viking Auto Salvage

The screams from Mastermind knocked Raiken out of her weird, White-induced introspection and existential angst. What had Mastermind done? What had she done, for that matter? If the Hub had been what changed them to begin with... Why would it be able to fix them? Raiken looked helplessly at the cloud of nanites surrounding the cyborg villain.

Raiken shook off the hesitation and looked back towards the raptor. Styx seemed to have White all tied up, so that left her to get Kon the opening he needed. A thought sent the red lightning crackling across her body and concentrating into a thick web of energy on her hands. It might be able to counteract whatever force was protecting it. Emphasis on might. It wasn't like she was sure this would work and her tactical analysis was all but begging for her to do anything else, but what choice did she have? Mastermind was in trouble and it was her fault.

She broke into a sprint towards the raptor and then met its charge with her hands. The momentum started pushing her backward towards Mastermind as her energized fingers began to pierce through the field and work it apart. The flesh on her arms began to blacken and sizzle, revealing gleaming implants beneath, but she paid that no mind. What was a little pain? It would heal. It always did. After a moment, there was a hole, hopefully large enough for Kon to work with, exposed in the field.

Raiken shouted, "Kon! Whatever you're gonna do, do it quick!" She'd hold on as long as she could. Longer, even, no matter what it cost.

Unleash posted:

SidekickBOT - Yesterday at 4:01 PM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+1 = (4+3)+1 = 8

It's gonna be temporary! Kon better get his act together and figure something out quick!

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +2 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: -1 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Hopeless, Insecure | Location: Viking Auto Salvage

Raiken accepts the provoke! +Team!

Raiken looked on with shock and some amount of horror as Kon leaped into the hole she had opened and jammed his sword into the generator. That was the dumbest, most irresponsible.. but it worked. The field died down. The last bits of energy flickered across her arms, leaving them almost bare of flesh. She wanted nothing more than to take a breather, let her arms heal up, then take her doubts and frustrations out on White.

Of course, Kon had other ideas. Mastermind's screams didn't help matters either. Raiken stumbled backward from the raptor, still smoking, then said, "...Right."

She looked at the swarm devouring her fellow test subject and her heart sank. This was all her fault. If she had just trashed the stupid hub when she had the chance... She couldn't fry the swarm. She couldn't shoot them up. That'd just make things worse for Mastermind. Her only real choice was to shield her with her body. Draw the swarm's attention and buy Kon or Styx some time to fix her mess.

And that's what she did. Raiken leaped into the whirring, devouring swarm of nanites, doing her best to shield Mastermind from the swarm.

quote:

SidekickBOT - Today at 10:34 AM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6-1 Raiken attempts to Defend Mastermind! = (2+3)-1 = 4

Advance! Hard move - "The swarm leaves Mastermind and crawls onto you, the last thing you see is Mastermind missing all her cybernetics, big patches of hair missing, brain exposed. Then you feel the nanites drilling into your metal parts. That probably doesn't really hurt, but it's like being at the dentist, numb but you still feel the vibrations and the pressure. Take a condition."

God, it was horrible. Mastermind was probably dying and it was all her fault. The fact that the swarm was leaving her alone now, attracted by the promise of more implants to devour, was small comfort. Raiken didn't even bother to fight against the swarm's attention. Let them take everything. She wasn't a hero. She was only good for breaking things. Hurting people. Where had all her bright ideas gotten them? Kon? Electrocuted. Mastermind? Devoured. White was probably going to hurt Styx and it would be her fault too.

Raiken marks Hopeless.

Choosing to rearrange labels and add +1! Raiken still sees herself as dangerous and unique, but she's not feeling that smart. Not in the slightest.

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +2 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: -1 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 0/5 | Conditions: Guilty, Hopeless, Insecure | Location: Viking Auto Salvage

For a moment, Raiken didn't realize that the nanites had stopped their invasion of her body. Kon was talking to her, she understood that much, but it was too late for her. It'd be enough if he got clear. Then she saw the Hub. Or, rather, the monster the Hub had become. It seemed... familiar. Very familiar. It was- Mastermind?

The shock of seeing the swarm form a replica of Mastermind and pull out weaponry just like hers as it made its escape knocked her out of the introspective funk and hesitation. What had happened to Mastermind? She clambered to her feet, paying no heed to the relentless itch of her flesh regrowing and covering the bare chrome of her implants, and limped over to Kon and Styx. Styx seemed to have done some sort of magic to help stabilize Mastermind, but she was still looking rough.

So was Kon, for that matter. He'd gone through a lot today. But even so! He was all too human. He wasn't going to be much of a hero to anyone if he ended up dead. Raiken clapped a hand on Kon's shoulder, fresh pink flesh once more covering it, "Kon. Those were some of the most harebrained, insane, completely irresponsible stunts I've-" She looked at his eyes, the hints of frustration and anger poking through, then sighed. "I mean... Thanks. You really saved me back there. Just be careful, okay? You aren't exactly built as tough as me and Styx."

quote:

@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+4 Comfort/Support (+1 frustrate rival, +1 influence) = (3+5)+4 = 12

Clearing Hopeless!

TheFireMagi posted:

A moment passed where Kon wanted to reach up and knock away Raiken’s hand. Really? Now? This was not the time, not the place, and were not words he wanted to hear. But he stopped himself. Thought about what she had said for a while. Watched as Styx did… something to stabilize Mastermind. Something that he didn’t understand. Something that he couldn’t do. Just one of many things. Firmly, but gently enough to show that he wasn’t lashing out, Kon brushed aside Raiken’s hand before turning to look at her. There was fury in his eyes, though not at her specifically, and more than anything else there was just… disappointment.

“Think I knew that already, Raiken, even without ya saying it. Wish I didn’t, but them’s the breaks, yeah? I’m just a completely normal, harebrained kid with his head in the clouds trying to play hero. And look where that got us! Mastermind- Jennifer’s a wreck, we couldn’t capture White, and we released a new villain… monster thing on the loose. Heck, me ‘saving’ you? You wouldn’t even have been in that mess in the first place if I didn’t say nothing! It just…”

Kon bites down on his lip, shoulders heaving.

“I know you’re just looking out for me. And I appreciate it. But being normal? It sucks. It really, freaking, sucks.”

Raiken's face shifts between sympathy, curiosity and a brief flash of anger before finally settling on exhaustion, "I wouldn't say that, Kon. Not me, guessing that Styx wouldn't either. It's just... poo poo, I don't know. I think you're pretty impressive most of the time. Hell, I don't think we could do this without you. But-" She poked him in the chest. Not terribly hard, mind, but enough to push him back a half-step. "You can't be a hero if you're dead. 'Sall I'm saying."

She pauses for a moment, "And it's not like you're the only one that hosed up today. We all made some mistakes. Jennifer is more my fault than anyone."

TheFireMagi posted:

Looking as a variety of expressions flew by on Raiken’s face made Kon want to both cringe and laugh. Complaining about being normal was, in hindsight, kind of a messed up thing to say considering who he was around. But it was how he felt, not all that deep down. Still, didn’t mean he needed to say it like he did. So when Raiken poked him, he let himself be pushed.

“Didn’t mean to make light of you gals’ situations. My bad. Y’know I didn’t mean it like that. Still,” Kon curls his arm in an exaggerated motion, putting his more or less nonexistent muscles on display, “Ya don’t gotta worry ‘bout me dying, ‘cause I’m pretty hard to kill! Must be, otherwise I’d be dead a hundred times over, and that’s not even counting today.”

Smiling sadly behind his mask at his idea of a joke, Kon said after a while, “For real though, I appreciate you looking out for me. So believe me when I say I don’t got any intention to die. Not any time soon, at least.”

And then, chuckling softly, he added, “Yeah, we all seriously messed up, huh? ‘Course, if you wanna take the blame, that’s fine by me! Feel free to ease up my conscience here, I could totally live with that.” A more genuine smile now, one still weighed down by anxiety, but… talking about things helped. It usually did.

Raiken grinned, "Heh, that's fine by me." Talking things out with him helped put her own poo poo in perspective. Sure, she might secretly (?) be a remorseless killing machine tricked into thinking that she wasn't. That was a problem for another day. If Kon could fight past his insecurities and keep going when things seemed bleak, she could too. For right now? They had a life to save and some serious explaining to do. "Alright, Kon, let's get your lady to the hospital. We can figure out what to do with this Hub Monster and White later on."

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +2 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: -1 | Mundane: +2
Potential: 1/5 | Conditions: None! | Location: Alliance Medical Center

After the minor hassle of giving the reception desk what little information she could without betraying Jennifer to the Foundation's eyes and ears, Raiken managed to secure her a room and treatment in the secure wing of the hospital. The report from the doctors was as shocking as it was welcome. After injuries that bad, she'd be up and about in a matter of days? She'd had the cybernetics ripped from her body! You could see her brain! Styx had to do mumbo-jumbo soul magic to even get her to the hospital! Raiken tried to imagine what would happen to her without the various gadgets and implants that the Foundation — or the Hub, rather — had replaced her the vast majority of her body with. Somehow, she didn't think it would be solved with a few days in the treatment ward.

Raiken stood silently in the hospital's lobby as she watched people stream through the ER. Memoriam pulled Styx aside and Kon, naturally, was mobbed by all sorts of relatives and heroes. Raiken watched the dressing down, an unreadable expression on her face, but perhaps the barest hints of amusement were poking through. For all the day's failures and challenges, they'd made it through. Together. Her HUD displayed the results of the latest round of diagnostics: she was working at 100% efficiency. The Hub may have taken a peek at the various bits that make her up, but it didn't seem to have done her any lasting harm. And next time? Next time she'd take care of it for sure.

End of Session posted:

Grow closer to the team. Explain who made you feel welcome; give Influence to that character and clear a condition or mark potential.

Raiken feels like she grew closer to Kon after that discussion! Marking potential and Kon shifts her labels.

Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +3 | Danger: +2 | Savior: -1 | Superior: -1 | Mundane: +1
Potential: 4/5 | Conditions: None! | Location: Crowley Park

At the Sanctum...

Raiken watches the briefing with an impassive look. Though she was holding up, despite the recent spate of unwelcome revelations and the subsequent bartering of her soul, enough turmoil consumed her inner thoughts to dismiss Memoriam's dire warnings and prophecies to mere background noise. The demon weapons, as much as a menace as they were sure to be in the coming days, were something she could punch. Sure, yeah, "don't fight them" or whatever. Wizards always want to make everything real complicated. But, at the end of the day, all she really needed to do was break them and then call in the adults to handle the resulting baby weapon thing. Easy enough. If there was one thing she was drat good at, it was not breaking.

No, she was far more concerned with a more existential threat. That being, of course, what she even was anymore. Enough of a different person to be dead in the eyes of Death — second-hand soul aside, she was less meat than machine these days — and he would be something of an authority on the matter. For all that Styx, Bravura, and... Raiken's eyes drift towards their new-found guardian angel, a brief hint of warmth peeking through the cold and precise expression on her face. For all that they were there for her, it seemed that nobody truly understood what it was like.

---

Later that night, at the park...

Raiken looks at Evening Star with no little amount of disdain. A punk-rear end kid, demonic weapon or no, and her absolute favorite rear end in a top hat hero on the scene together. It didn't get much better than that. She looks over at Wolfbane, then waves her off dismissively, "Get out of here, Bane, this kid's outta your league. It ain't like Styx, where she was running from you. This guy's playing for keeps." Raiken rolls her shoulders and cracks her knuckles. Then, before anyone else can make a move, Raiken blurs into action.

Pulling out her pistols, Raiken cranked them to maximum charge and sent a pair of crackling, crimson bursts at the flaming rear end in a top hat that seemed to pierce through his head and chest. After a split-second, the image faded and Raiken's HUD pinged him as being dozens of feet off to the side. The guy had some moves, despite how he looked. A shower of sod and an eruption of masonry echo in the distance as the errant bolts unleash their power upon the scenery.

Raiken looks at the boy a bit more seriously, then leveled her guns with him once more, "You aren't bad, kid, but that's not enough to get me to take her out."

It was part common sense and part sheer stubbornness. As much as Raiken could hear the faint chill and whisper in the back of her mind, it was going to take a lot more than that to get her to take Judecca out again. She was a bit saucy and, well, Wolfsbane was already a notoriously poor judge of character. It wasn't like she liked anyone on Raiken's team, but it didn't seem like a great idea to take out an actual demon weapon in front of that would-be crusader.

Crimson flashes and bursts of hellfire light up the night as she charges back into the fray.

Rolled a 6, but using In A China Shop to cause some collateral damage to the park to Resist Evening Star's Blows.

Tricky fucked around with this message at 06:30 on Sep 28, 2017

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Tricky
Jun 12, 2007

after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage



Freak: +3 | Danger: +3 | Savior: -2 | Superior: -1 | Mundane: +1
Potential: 4/5 | Conditions: None! | Location: Crowley Park

Raiken calls Judecca into being, the black ice creeping out from inside her hand to form an elegant, unsettling blade. With a flourish, she slashes along the ground and sends a twisting line of frost through the hard earth of the park. If she did this right... and if Judecca cooperates... it should erupt into a wall of ice that blocks Ognjen's charge long enough for Bravura to escape his attack.

Raiken growls, "I thought I told you to leave this to me! Keep an eye on Luci, his claws are going to rip you in half."

quote:

SidekickBOT - Today at 6:13 PM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+4 Defending (though also Frustrating) Bravura from her angry werewolf friend! (+Danger, +1 Rival) = (2+1)+4 = 7

Escalating the situation.

GM posted:

"Good thinking Ruri, we should cut out these interlopers." smarms Evening Star, Ognjen's new right eye, which emits a red jet of hellfire that leaves swirling pillars of flame to form a makeshift arena just for two. The ring of fire and ice keeps the fog out but where the two meet hellsteam rushes out, and where it hits the fog that's no longer held at bay by the broken silver weapon, tiny storms form that leave black clawmarks on the ground from miniature lightning bolts. It's a microcosm of the battle between you and Ognjen, Judecca and Evening Star, and between Hell and the Moon.

Luci and Bravura, you two are all alone now. Styx is lost in the fog with hunters and the hunted, Raiken's fighting a duel whose end marks the birth of a new demon. What do you do?

Raiken, Ognjen's silhouetted by hellfire as he circles you with club held high, snarling and snapping at you with his foaming canine maw. Judecca seems bored, as if this fight is a foregone conclusion in her favor. "Go," she urges. What do you do?

Raiken says, "I don't need you—" Crimson lightning begins to crackle around her as she unleashes the power that sleeps within her. Even as the werewolf slavers at her, she takes Judecca with both hands and, in an instant, launches towards the wolf with explosive speed and power. The earth shatters beneath her feet. "—to tell me that!"

quote:

SidekickBOT - Today at 7:29 PM
@Raiken (Tricky): 2d6+3 Directly Engage Ognjen (+Danger) = (5+2)+3 = 10

Avoiding blows, and Impressing/Frightening/Surprising Ognjen.

Avoiding his clumsy blows with ease, Raiken slashes across Ognjen's flank — black ice blossoming into his flesh along the blade's path — and kicks him backwards... dangerously close to the ring of hellfire and ice that separates the two from the rest of the park.

She spins Judecca, then levels it with the werewolf once more, "Is that all you've got...? Don't think I'm going to let you off easy for hurting Luci... or for trying to hurt Bravura."

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