Teen Titans #1 - Smoke and Mirrors pt. 1

Another Time, Another Place...


She ran through the twisting streets of the city at midnight. Her heart was pounding and her blood was rushing as she crisscrossed through the modern labyrinth of stone and steel, weaving a path through crowded throughways and narrow alleys, while her eyes constantly darted back over her shoulders.

”You’ve got five miles to go, They are gaining. Change your tactics.” The disembodied voice echoed in her mind, deep and resonant.

”I know, I know!” She mentally shouted back, at the same time throwing her shoulder forward to slip her composite bow into her hands. She secured the backpack on her shoulders and pulled a trick arrow from the quiver on her hip.

The grappling arrow soared and then hoisted her towards the rooftops, where she landed in a rolling run, a leap from one building to another, she turned a corner, and felt her heart drop.

He was standing there, cape surrounding him like shadows brought to life, his eyes burning with a crimson fire. ”I’m sorry Lian,” his voice was like crushed glass given life, a devil on earth. ”You should never have come to Gotham.” She sees the flash of steel in his hand, a batarang sharper than a razor.
And everything goes dark.

Right Here, Right Now...

Gateway City, jewel of the West Coast and one of the most vibrant cities in the United States, rivalling the likes of Gotham city or Metropolis herself, she has at times been home to Wonder Woman and was the birthplace of the Justice League.

Still, despite the strange things that her citizens have seen over the years, nothing would prepare them for the grand destiny that awaited their city, a destiny that began today.


In the sky above the beach, four portals of light slide open, letting out a man and woman dressed like playing cards, a man of blue and black and ice and a woman made of ink.
From those same doors fell three heroes, untested and untried.




”This isn’t the rendezvous...” The boy steaming with ice muttered, before suddenly reaching back for his shoulder in shock,

Arrowette, Ardent and Scott all saw the same thing. The duffel bags that each of their crooks had been carrying... were gone.

”Well that’s just rude,” The Girl, Ten, sulks, before cocking her head to the side, kind of like a dog hearing a whistle.

The man dressed like a card, a Jack, merely smiles,

The frozen one, Frostbite, places a hand to his ear, and his shoulders slump, he looks up to Arrowette. [color=navy]”I’m sorry. They found out... Circumstances just changed, so the deal’s off.”
Ten fists charge with energy, Jack’s sword comes alive in fire and Frostbite’s form sheathes in ice!

Initiatives

Dice Roll: 1d20+6z
d20 Results: 5 (Total = 11)

Jack (11)

Dice Roll: 1d20+8z
d20 Results: 14 (Total = 22)

Ten (22)

Dice Roll: 1d20+4z
d20 Results: 16 (Total = 20)

Frostbite (20)

Dice Roll: 1d20+12z
d20 Results: 6 (Total = 18)

Arrowette (18)

Dice Roll: 1d20z
d20 Results: 5

Ardent (5)

Dice Roll: 1d20+4z
d20 Results: 10 (Total = 14)

Obsidian (14)

Hero Points One Condition Normal Lian rolled automatically when she hit the sand, dispelling the impact and rolling into a crouch, bow out, ready to strike. She didn’t know where she had been expecting to come out, but this… probably wasn’t it. She was relieved it wasn’t some dark and dingy secret lair on the far side of the world. Of course, she still didn’t know where (or when, or in what universe, her pessimistic side added) she was, but that city looked distinctly American. More surprising than the scene she had arrived on, was the company she had arrived on it with. Her eyes widened. Manhunter? No… that wasn’t the Martian she knew, at any rate. And a little rake of a guy. If he was a bad guy, he was the least intimidating one she had ever seen. Her eyes automatically sought out the figure she had been chasing and found him hovering somewhere in front of him. She was surprised – although, she really shouldn’t have been – to find that he was not alone either. More villains, no doubt. She would have thought that this was some kind of elaborate double cross, if she hadn’t seen the slump of his shoulders and heard the tone in his voice. Lian bit her lip. Damn it.

OOC: I would like to get an assessment check on the card themed villains as well, if that's okay OuO;; . I am
going to want to roll assessments against the other villains as they enter combat too, as a heads up >u> .

Hero Points One Condition Normal

ARDENT N'than N'ashh As he passes through the glowing opening, N'than's senses are assaulted by a dazzling display of light and a pressure against his ears and eyes. He tumbles through the other side of the portal, almost hitting the ground. With a quick mental nudge, he manages to turn into a semi-graceful swoop. Righting himself, he takes stock of his surroundings. There was Jack, along with a shapely female who shared his playing card fixation and a male who appeared to be partially frozen over. Mouth turning down slightly, N'than realizes that he was not alone with these villains. Looking over, he spies a girl in an archery outfit, complete with bow and full quiver, evidently prepared for a fight. Mentally quirking an eyebrow, he looks over the other individual who seemed to be opposed to the same side as himself. The boy didn't appear to be much, skinny in over-sized clothes. All in all, he reminded N'than greatly of the homeless he had hidden among after his escape from Cadmus.

Obsidian

Hero Points: 1
Condition: Incorporeal

Scott skidded to a halt and gaped. A martian. A real live martian stood near him. Scott had heard of the Martian Manhunter before, but he'd never thought he'd see one up close.

Then he realized he wasn't in Metropolis anymore.

"Whoa, where the hell is this place?" he asked.

"It's beautiful, sunny California doll," Ten replies to Scott's question, even as her fists charge up with energy,

"Stop flirting with the vagrant sister, you heard the boss. We keep them occupied until the others arrive." Jack hefts his longsword, its blade glowing ice hot. "Ten, take the Archer, Frostbite take the Martian. Forget about the homeless wretch."

"...Yeah.." The white pieces of Frostbite's suit charge with a blue energy and suddenly a beam of ice blasts from his palms, straight towards Ardent! The young Martian brings his arms up just in time to block the blast, feeling the chilling frost crawl along his skin, but thankfully leaving him unhurt.

Mechanics

Frostbite rolls a 25 against

Dice Roll: 1d20+5z
d20 Results: 7 (Total = 12)

Arden'ts Dodge (12) beats it.

Dice Roll: 1d20+10z
d20 Results: 18 (Total = 28)

Ardent's Toughness (28) needs to beat a 24

Lian had heard of the Royal Flush Gang from her own world, thieves and Burglars using high tech equipment and a playing card motif. The purpose and style of the Gang shifted depending on who was behind the masks. Sometimes a family of master thieves, others simply strangers working as hired thugs. It was impossible to tell which version of the Gang this was, or an entirely new one altogether.

The girl dressed as such, with a white body suit, Raven hair and spades placed rather inappropriately, soars towards her, a blast of orange-red energy lancing out from her fist. Lian rolls to the side through the sand, dodging the blast.

"Huh, quick little minx."

Mechanics

Ten Rolls a 12, which can not beat Arrowette's dodge.

GM Box

Arrowette is up

Hero Points Two Condition We are carrying on from where we were at the end of our solos, yes? -1 Toughness Lian was almost relieved when the body-suited bimbo came careening towards here. She didn’t think she would have been able to put her heart into a fight against Frostbite. It wasn’t that she would have felt bad for bringing him down – that was her job, after all – but if his little sister was being held hostage… well, she didn’t want to be the one responsible for him failing his mission. He would have to be stopped, but she wasn’t going to be the one to do it. She rolled to avoid the oncoming attack, coming back up onto her feet with practiced ease. She could feel the tiny grains of sand rubbing against her back where they had wormed into her suit; she would be finding them in her clothes for weeks. “Yeah, well, I try.” She quipped half-heartedly and released a flash-bang arrow in her direction.

OOC: Assessment checks OuO ?
Also, have I expressed recently how many happy feels this game fills me with XD ?

Obsidian

Hero Points: 2
Condition: Incorporeal, Force Field

"California?!" Scott freaked. "How did I get here? What's going o--hey!"

He stumbled backward as Ten took her swipe at Arrowette. Luckily for him, Jack didn't see Scott as a threat, but Scott barely noticed. The situation had just gotten too chaotic and every instinct in Scott's mind screamed at him to run. He had no idea who any of these people were. All he knew was Ten and her cronies were attacking someone that wasn't on her side.

"Why're you trying to beat us up!?" he demanded. "Aren't you just an art thief?"

Ten's shadow writhed and began moving on its own. Its arms twisted into spindly limbs and swung at the pretty thief. "Screw off already! You got what you want."

OOC

Scott is going to use Animate Shadows: Move Object 12 (100 tons, DC 27; Damaging; Limited Material (Shadows and darkness) to attack Ten.

Dice Roll: 1d20+8
d20 Results: 11 (Total = 19)

Animate Shadows Attack (19 to hit, forgot to put the z); Damage Effect 12

Jack's Offense is roughly equal. His defense is Higher.
Ten's Offense is lower, Defense is highter.

Arrowette's arrow flies straight towards Ten, who tries to veer to the side to dodge, and if it were a simple projectile she would have succeeded. But the arrow's bulbous end ignites in a flash of white in front of the criminal vixen. "argh!" she growls, snapping her arm up in front of her eyes,

The light from the flashbang still works against her though, for as her shadow grows, it comes to life! it's tendril like arms whipping into her from behind! "Not cool sweetheart!" she glares at Scott.

"Quit playing sister, take them down!" Jack skirts the edge of the water with his Card, sending a wave of water up behind him, he snaps his head towards Ardent and a beam of crimson energy thunders from him eye, slamming the Martian right in the chest!

As the fight rages on, the sound of thunder is heard in the clear blue sky, and above the fight another portal tears open... and then another!

From the first one tumbles two figures, a behemoth of white, and black spades, followed by a girl with devlish horns, purple skin and a fiery disposition!

"Wha... Where's my statue?!" the large newcomer roars as he lands on the sand empty handed.

"Relax baby brother, The boss took it through your jump. All you need to do now is keep these interlopers busy!" Jack grins at their new reinforcements, his sword still in hand.

But the new arrivals don't stop there! The second portal, spits out not one, but three newcomers, each one landing with grace and finesse.

The first one is a girl, with raven black hair, and definite feline features, in fact she looks like a Were-cat,



The Second one is a menacing figure, small and lithe, he wears a skull like mask slashed with a Red "X", his arms alight with blades of Energy.


And the last one is a teenage boy, dressed in crimson and black, a domino mask covering his eyes and a bo-staff in hand. He's a young man who's reputation precedes him, an urban legend known around the world...

GM Box

Ten is hit by the FB arrow, but resists.
Scott's attack beats Ten's dodge. Ten fails her toughness check by 1 degree. Ten gets 1 bruise.

Jack rolls a 27 to attack Ardent, who rolls a

Dice Roll: 1d20+5z
d20 Results: 11 (Total = 16)

(16) - It hits.

Ardent rolls a

Dice Roll: 1d20+10z
d20 Results: 3 (Total = 13)

Toughness (13) against a DC of 22 - Fails, and just manages to only get 1 degree.

Ardent takes a bruise, -1 to resistance against damage.

Indigo and Ace join the battle!

Catwoman, Robin and Red X join the battle!

Ardent's turn!

Hero Points One Condition Bruised -1 Toughness

ARDENT N'than N'ashh A grunt escapes N'than's lips as the latest beam slams into him. Fixing a glare on Jack, N'than shifts his stance, lowering his gravity. At the same time, a mental nudge causes the bio-polymers that make up his body to shift, re-binding themselves into tighter bundles. His skin and organs now virtually impenetrable, he casts a quick glance over the newest arrivals. Turning his gaze back on Jack, he casts his mind against the villains. If he could just break through, and figure out what they were up against, perhaps he could devise a plan to stop them more efficiently. - - - - - Out of Character Density - All ranks of Toughness now Impervious. [Free] Mind Reading Check: Dice Roll: 1d20 d20 Results: 15 Mind Reading - DC Will 20 [Standard]