Foot in the Door

[Gramcrackered]

You find yourself in the lobby of the First National Bank of Freedom City, new teammates seated nearby as they try to tell the insistent clerks that no, they don't want a loan, no, they just want to sit here, yes, we'll be leaving soon. With little to do but idly fiddle with one of those pamphlets that always seem to be floating about this place, your mind wanders back to the events of the last few weeks...

In the comic books, being a superhero is easy. Get a random super power through some sort of crazy mishap, stitch together a fantastic costume, go off and fight some evil in a battle to the near-death that the good guy never seems to lose...bam! Instant success and fame. Nothing to it, really.

In reality, things have turned out to be far more complicated.

Sure, you got the power. Sure, you got the costume. But finding a noteworthy villain has proved all but impossible. Oh, there was the "Amazing Rat-Trap" who you foiled at the local mini-mart. And that incident with the self-proclaimed "Sewer People Under Fifth Avenue." Which was all rather confusing now that you think about it: you were nowhere near Fifth Avenue when they attacked, nonetheless a sewer.

Anyway. None of those criminals really mattered. The press certainly didn't seem to think so; all those battles earned you were a three-sentence blurb on the Civics section of the Freedom City newspaper. Which is a bit of a problem, as until you can get the press to take notice of your actions, you damn well aren't going to get the common man to.

Not that a silly thing like fame is really important to you, of course. Certainly not. Well. Maybe a little. To some people. But not you. Nope.

Okay. Maybe SOME recognition would be nice. More to the point though, until people start noticing you, you aren't going to have a chance at any donations or mysterious endorsements by shadowy government types. Much as you hate to say it, you could really use that sort of funding right about now, as it's turned out that being a superhero is incredibly expensive. The wear-and-tear costs for your costume alone has ended up staggering, not to mention that unfortunate incident where you mistook a television set for a hostage situation...

With a snap of your fingers, you pull off a notepad and pen from a nearby desk. "Note to Self: Court date for harassment charges on 11/7." Shaking your head, you slip the note into one of your pockets. That's precisely what you're talking about - if you were a big-league hero, that sort of thing wouldn't happen. Nobody ever tries to sue Captain Thunder, right?

A few days ago, a friend of your's suggested you try one of those new hero agency businesses that has sprouted up over the past few years. You were of course skeptical, but desperation eventually overcame that. The agent who met with you said that the days of the lone avenger are out; the "In" thing this year is a team of heroes. So, you filled out a questionnaire asking about your personality and powers, which was then cross-referenced against "literally hundreds of other applicants." That taken care of, the agency gave you a time, date and location where you were supposed to meet your new teammates, along with a bill which was depressingly large for how little they'd really helped.

The location had turned out to be the First National Bank; truth be told, you don't know why you didn't think about this place before. This place is practically renowned for how often it gets robbed. Shouldn't be too long before somebody comes bursting in through those doors, gun in hand and traditional cry of-

"Everybody freeze! This is a robbery!"

Snapping back to reality, you turn your head to go look at the newest arrival to the bank. He is most assuredly NOT a customer and, with an uneasy look at your new companions whom you've barely said three words to, you slowly rise up out of your cushy chair...

The above need not necessarily apply to your character. You DO however, have to have ended up with the current group in the current location, have little to no recognition in Freedom City yet, and have a desire to go right some wrongs.

 

[Gramcrackered]

"When I say robbery," bellows the man who just entered, "Know that I in fact mean the liberation of the ill-gotten gains from this facist establisment built upon the backs of its freedom loving workers!"

Hooboy. This guy clearly has a few screws loose. As if the propaganda speech he spouts wasn't clue enough, the outfit is. Seems as though he got some sort of deal on American flags - his clothing is composed of stars and stripes from his perfectly straight pants to his tauntly-stretched t-shirt.

Of course, that's not what really grabs your attention. No, you'd say it's the ridiculously large, vaguely-rifle-clearly-automatic-and-utterly-dangerous gun that he keeps swinging about that makes him somebody worth taking seriously. As though to punctuate this thought, the man blasts three melon-sized holes in the ceiling to punctuate some random sentance, sending everyone but your group rushing for cover.

Veins bulging in his neck, the gunman continues on, either oblivious or uncaring to the people's shrieks of fear. "I am justice incarnate! I am freedom reborn! I am The Last True American Patriot!"

 

[Velmont]

Sean put down his pamphlet on the table next to him. With a little concentration, a whirlwind starts to form around him. The pamphlets lying on the table next to him start to move and are lift by the whirlwind. Sean starts to walk in direction of that bozzo who have entered, but quicly, his steps stop to touch the ground and start to lift in the air. When he is finally above the crowd, and is sure that he has the attention of that bank robber, he starts to say.

"That's true all those bank make money with our savings, that we barely see that money, but you see, I have a problem here. It is in that bank my savings are, and if you start to steal them, it me who will start to pay for the bill. Yeah, they have insurrance, but they will raise their fees to pay their bills of insurance and..."

Sean looks at all the pamphlets he is dragging.

"Those are really annoying!"

The whirlwind eject all the pamphlet in the direction of the table where they were lying. Most of them fall on it, but some miss the table.

"I'll clean later... where was I, oh yeah, and there is one thing that sound false about you. There is nothing more captilist than a bank and there is not a nation more capitalist than the USA, so if you were a Patriot, you would not be robbing a bank, which is pretty low thievery, just next to robbing a candy from a kid."

OOC:
(Free) Force Field
(Half) Fly up over the crowd
And talk...

 

[Kevin Perrine]

FULCRUM readies!!

Veins bulging in his neck, the gunman continues on, either oblivious or uncaring to the people's shrieks of fear. "I am justice incarnate! I am freedom reborn! I am The Last True American Patriot!"

Seeing his newest partner rise up toward the ceiling Tom became exhilerated! THIS was it!!
He'd played it over and over in his head on how it would go down...
Sometimes it was Hiroshima Shadow, sometimes it was Wildcard, once it was even Omega! Tommy and his son (Sam) had toiled many long nights making up stories of super heroics on how he'd stop the robbery, save the city, do all the things heroes do...
But TODAY was the day.

and all those plans, all those tactics...
ummm FULCRUM couldn't remember!

Tommy wanted to be a hero, more than anything. He'd pieced together his costume maticulously with his son. He'd gone on patrol, but to this point the "best" use of his massive strength seemed to he bouncing from construction job to construction job being careful not to show his co-workers just how strong he really was... He worried about risking Sam's life if any others ever learned who "Fulcrum" really was...
But just like Sammy quoted from their favorite comic book - "with really strong powers'n stuff, comes whole bunches of important stuff you have to do with those powers to help other people and stuff" or something like that...
And as if in slow motion Tommy turned the corner in his mind. A FULCRUM was needed now!!

Fulcrum - standing nearly 8' at almost half a ton was a sight to behold. Tommy was tall, Tommy was huge, but he hadn't ever stood as tall or strong as this moment.
Glancing around his first thought before moving was for anyone that could be hurt by the maniac with the gun. [OOC: looking for any details on civilians or bank layout]

As Fulcrum stood full view of the man is seen... from pointed knee high massive boots crimson in color with ultra-traction bases gold in color, he wore what appeared best as a wrestler's uniform. The legs and arms were open showing his hardened caucasian skin. On his forarms he wore leather bracers to match his leather bottom trunks that led up over his abdomen where the brown leather met a yellow/gold short sleeved skin tight shirt with a V-neck capped in crimson red. A light blue cape draped around his massive shoulders. And on top to cover his face a head cap mask that opened up showing his ears, nose, mouth and strong chin. It was yellow/gold in color with a crimson red stylized eagle shape on his forhead.

Sammy and he had sketched the colorful uniform from ideas of the comic book stories from the old World War II days... It was Sam's idea for the eagle symbol - Tommy didn't know why but he loved it, he loved the costume because his son helped him with it... Tommy knew his limits, he knew that he wasn't the smartest man - but he also knew were his REAL strength came from. And he'd wear it proudly for Sam!!


Snapping back to reality
Fulcrum's immediate thought was to rock this fool's world!!
As he began to raise his steal toed boot about 2 feet off the ground, he planned to see if the villain could stand one of his (soon to be patented) "Fulcrum-Shake" or as Sam called them - "givem the rock-n-roll Dad!" [OOC: thinking about a Shockwave] then he'd rush him trying to get in the way of any innocents before taking that crummy gun and shoving it in his ear...

but then Fulcrum turned his head side to side looking to his teammates for any direction, he thought it best to wait for the others and not hurt anyone's feelings.
Fulcrum settled his foot down and decided to wait and for now play crowd control... the most important thing was to protect the people.


"OK freak'O - we don't wan' any trubble, bu' we can't have you breakin' da laws a'dis fine coun'ry no matta who yer votin' for in da elections... put da gun down an' walk away, 'kay mister...?"


[OOC: FULCRUM looks around to get barrings, he'll READY any action for "TLTAP", if he attempts to hurt ANYONE Fulcrum will rush to get in the way to take the brunt of the damage. If he needs to spend Extra Effort to "take the fall" he'll do so.
Otherwise if anyone on his team give him orders otherwise he'll do as they suggest as long as it's not endangering others...]

 

[Mark Chance]

Badgeface, his face covered with a shiny silver mask shaped like an oversized police badge emblazoned with his nom de guerre, leaps up from the bench on which he was reading the latest Super People magazine. His tight black body stocking accessorized with shiny silver belt, boots, and gloves seems to shimmer in the flourescent light.

"Stand down, villain! Drop your weapons now! If you open fire, I will simply use my badgemask to deflect the attacks. If you attempt to flee, I shall cover the floor with a nearly frictionless layer of gravitons. The move is yours, miscreant!"

OOC: Ready an action to use Deflection if the bad guy opens fire.

 

[Grue Bait]

In a far off corner, The Iron Aegis stands, unmoving. From afar he looks no more than a decorative suit of armor... Albeit unusually large and untraditional. A savage-looking, almost otherworldy piece - rusted to the core yet as sturdy as the day it was wrought. Rested upon his shoulder lies a humongous battle axe, chipped and worn, and altogether heavy enough to split a man down the center.

It seems to be empty... To the naked eye, at least. Yet there's another presence. You can sense it. The tackles on the back of your neck might raise, or you'll feel a shiver down your spine.

A large screeching noise comes from the corner, like nails on a chalkboard. The armor is moving.

The Iron Aegis moves slowly, but with great force. The earth seems to shake very slightly. He surveys the room blindly. He need not turn his head, as he has no eyes. He has no ears. He has no skull. He sees without seeing, hears without hearing. He is but the spirit of a man that once was, but is no longer. His attention turns to the man with the gun.

A slow, menacing voice resembling a hiss escapes through the slit in his mask. "Lower your arms or I shall cleave you in two."


OOC: Ready his weapon in the event the villain opens fire.

 

[Gramcrackered]

Velmont: "I'll clean later... where was I, oh yeah, and there is one thing that sound false about you. There is nothing more captilist than a bank and there is not a nation more capitalist than the USA, so if you were a Patriot, you would not be robbing a bank, which is pretty low thievery, just next to robbing a candy from a kid."

"I do not FAVOR capitalism!" the man shoots back scornfully, his lip curling. "I favor the true core of our nation - DEMOCRACY! The common man! The dream our nation were founded upon!"

"We have lost our way!" he continues, whipping his gun back and forth overhead. More of the ceiling vanishes in clouds of dust and cement as he fires off round after round of ammunition. "It is our duty as patriots to rebel when the conditions become unbearable! I do what I do for the FUTURE!"

Dozens of normal people can still be seen in the area, cowering on the ground, hiding beneath desks, or just sitting and giving off the occasional panicked shriek. It seems that The Last True American Patriot is blocking the main exit out - all those people caught in here when he entered are effectively trapped. Worse, any attacks that aren't precise could very well catch an unlucky granny and her purse full of change in the effect. Thankfully the only damage along these lines thus far is a paper-cut inflicted by a particularly fast-moving pamphlet.

Meanwhile, Fulcrum, Badeface and The Iron Aegis all take their own shots at convincing The Last True American Patriot to back down peacefully. Most of the words directed the madman's direction are simply ignored - though he appears a tad unsettled by the comment about being cleaved in two.

"I...er...uh..." he says, his fevered speaking grinding to a halt. His gun dips slightly as he tries to figure out what to say next. "And...uh...and...and...um...America rocks?"

 

[Mark Chance]

"I...er...uh..." he says, his fevered speaking grinding to a halt. His gun dips slightly as he tries to figure out what to say next. "And...uh...and...and...um...America rocks?"

Badgeface takes a cautious step forward, still ready to direct gravitons to deflect the would-be robber's possible attack.

"You're right. America does indeed rock, all the way back to Plymouth Rock. Many people have forgotten what has made America great: rugged individualism, ingenuity, bravery in the face of adversity, and, above all, our driving sense of justice. Ask yourself this question: Is what you're doing here and now, scaring these citizens who are just going about their business, is this right? Even when facing the tyranny of King George, didn't true patriots try to resolve problems with words first, and didn't they take great pains to protect the innocent even when words failed?"

While he waits for a reply, Badgeface starts to hum "America the Beautiful."

OOC: I guess we can count that speech as an unskilled Diplomacy check with a +2 bonus. I rolled an 11 + 2 = 13. Feel free to give Badgeface a patriotic bonus

 

[Velmont]

Eole, HP:5

Sean listen at Badgeface "He is right. Justice, Freedom. How many movies on America have been done by Hollywood, all with that subject. All good box office too. Ok, enough babbling and joking. Look at you. You are alone, there, and we are four..." Sean looks beside him as a humanoid form appears next to him, make of air, dust and smoke. "Well, five. So, let's open the bets. The odds are against you, and if you open fire, you just worsen your case. If I were you, I think the best thing to do would be to flee. Yeah, we will follow you, but as you don't know our strenght, you would be better to take this fight another day."

OOC:
(Half) Talk
(Half) Create Elemental (the elemental fly next to Eole)

 

[Kevin Perrine]

FULCRUM Ready's his Action for the round

While he waits for a reply, Badgeface starts to hum "America the Beautiful."

looking to Badgeface, FULCRUM scrams to remember which teammate this was... what was his name?!!?
we gotta look like a unif-unifie... we gotta look like we're together! Fulcrum thought...

"uhhh, yeah! BAG-Face is right Mister... and we AIN'T GONNA HURT you"
looking toward his sword weilding companion...
"NO cuttin' in two, we're Da GOOD-GUYS (tm) - and we don't CUT nobody in two!
but we ain't opposed to poundin' ya inta sausage if that's what it takes to stop you frum hurtin' deez inocent people!"
as Fulcrum's strong eyes moved from his teammate to the villainous robber......

Putting his hand to his chest over his heart Fulcrum too began to hum the national anthem in tune with Badgeface.


OOC Fulcrum:
READY Action
to "Take the Fall" jumping in the way of any danger if the villain attacks anyone. I'll have to spend Extra Effort to use "Take the Fall".

PS... I hope Badgeface is cool with me playing around with his name In-Character, Fulcrum doesn't mean disrespect, he's just slower than average.

PSS... Can everyone PLEASE start putting your character name in the "Title" or somewhere in your post - I like to use character names in Roleplaying and just UNDERSTANDING who is saying what and right now I can't tell who's saying WHAT.... thanks!