The Requisite Misunderstanding...
The Monarch peered out from the long shadows in the alleyway across from the (apparently well-known) secret government storage facility
Warehouse 13A. His red eyes reflected what little illumination the flickering streetlights cast.
At his side,
Tephra the Volcano Elemental had lowered her flames to a dark bluish-green as she took in the situation.
"I see
nothing," she muttered to the hulking primate, her voice dripping with venom, "If that parasite lied to you about this place, he will pay dearly" .
"Hold your tongue my loyal retainer. The thief we questioned didn't seem to have the strength of will to mislead us, in your presence...as such, we can assume that this "
Cranium" is either here, or will be shortly"
A low growl akin to sliding tectonic plates was the only answer he recieved.
At that very moment, the asphalt surface of the street in front of
Warehouse 13A began to crack and give way. Before the very eyes of the Gorilla King and The Volcano Elemental a brass spear cracked through the tarmac, followed by a clawed grey hand.
The moment there was enough of an aperature in the street to admit her form, a lithe, winged form vaulted from to the edge of the hole, over the spear, and began scanning the street, her hands crackling with an electrical charge...
(OOC: It's the Arc Angel folks! She blows her untrained spot roll to notice Tephra or The Monarch lurking in the shadows and remains unaware of their presence)
A greyish, beastial head rose from the tunnel, began sniffing the air, and attempted to lever himself out of the tunnel with the spear they had earlier seen...
(OOC: I would hope that after all the good response he's recieved both here and over at Greenronin.com, The Mormodillo needs no introduction 
) He also misses his spot roll, giving The Monarch and Tephra a surpise round)
The Monarch spoke authoritatively to his cohort, "We seem to have found either
the Cranium or his Vassals. Immobilize them Tephra, and be ready to subdue the winged miscreant.
I shall deal with the beast"
The words had barely left his mouth when she stepped forward and unleashed a blast of the volcanic
lahar at them
(OOC: Tephra spends a hero point to add the "Area" extra to her "Snare" attack for this round and rolls well, immobilizing them and adversely affecting their Dexterity Ability and their attack rolls)
At that same moment
The Monarch launched himself at
The Mormodillo (who now appeared for all the world like a severed Armadillo head--with snazzy sunglasses-- lying in the street, as the hole he was in was now filled with concrete).
Unimaginably fast, Kronus closed the distance and fired dozens of jackhammer punches at
The Mormodillo's exposed head...
(
OOC: It's strictly a special effect folks...we thought that the Mach One Punch extra shouldn't represent a single, really fast (hard) punch, but a huge number of normal strength punches. Yes, the physics concerning this is shaky, but if it's good enough for Alpha Flight, it's good enough for me The mechanics for Kronus', thousand punches is the same as Mach One Punch.)
...to no discernible effect! Skinned knuckles were not something the King of the Titans was accustomed to, but the bony exoskeleton of
the Mormodillo had repulsed his most brutal attack.
OOC: As you had likely guessed, The Mormodillo made a good damage save...Surprise round is over)
At this point, our camera shifts to
The Cosmic Commissar,
Dr. Molly Kewler and
The Fakir hurtling past the downtown skyscrapers and toward the Yaletown warehouse district...
"How much farther now
tovarisch?"
The Commissar asked
Molly as they soared, the diminuitive figure of
The Fakir floating behind them in the lotus postion.
She pointed her long, tapered finger toward a nondescript warehouse below them, "just down there, it's....oh my" Her comment caught in her throat as they all watched the raging battle on the street.
A glossy, faceted woman, head on fire, appeared to be spraying an Angel down some manner of paste, while a 10 ft. gorilla punched at a large animal head lying in the middle of the road faster than the eye could follow. The Sunglasses the head wore rattled from side to side with every punch.
"I LOVE THIS COUNTRY"
The Fakir shouted with glee, "I am here less than a week nd already i am fighting evil!"
(OOC: at this point everyone rolls initiative)
The Cosmic Comissar, aware that the fight had to be stopped, but unsure who was on the side of the
The Cranium and who their de-facto allies were....went with his best guess as he watched the enormous Gorilla pummel away at the Armadillo head...
"He is, how do you say...hitting a guy with glasses!" Calling up all of his magnetic power, he swooped down to a mere 30 feet from the melee (
Dr. Kewler in tow) and tore a telephone pole from it's moorings, sparks cascading from it's base like a firework.
The pole hovered in the air momentarily before streaking toward
The Monarch. En route, at the Commissar's mental command it took the shape of a horseshoe and was quickly closing around the Gorilla King like a full body shackle.
In the blink of an eye,
Kronus left off his jackhammer punching of
The Mormodillo and, samson-like, pushed mightily against the iron pillar constricting him.
The Commissar fought mightily to restrain the Titan, but to no avail... as his magnetic eforts gave out,
The Monarch cast aside the telephone pole as a child tosses aside a whiffle bat.
(OOC: The was a grapple attempt by the Cosmic Comissar on The Monarch. The Commissar (Substituting his Energy Control for STR in the equation) made a successful "grab" roll, but failed in the opposed "hold" roll, despite adding a hero point for extra effort.
Arc Angel, enraged by the attack by what she could only assume were the minions of
The Cranium, summoned the lightning the Lord had enshrined within her angelic form and shattered the concrete shell restraining her...her hands now free, she gestured toward the flame haired demon that lurked in the alleyway...arcing bolts of electricity through her stony form.
(
OOC: Arc Angel uses a free action to activate her damage field--immediately doing enough damage to free her from Tephra's lahar snare. She then attacks with her Energy Blast (Electricity), and damaging the Volcano Elemental. Tephra attempts to make a will save to avoid going berserk and fails.
Molly Kewler, seeing herself positioned correctly above the Geat Ape below, concentrated briefly, causing her mass to double, quadruple, octuple...on and on. Within microseconds she was free of
The Cosmic Comissar's tenuous magentic grip, and plummetting toward the Titan like a curvaceous wrecking ball...her molecular density approaching that of battleship plate. She had, unfortunately, not taken
The Monarch's inhuman speed into account, and at the last possible moment, he moved fractionally to one side.
She thundered into the ground, sinking a good 12 inches into the pavement.
(OOC: Dr. Kewler attempts a charge attack from above, and due to some poor luck with the dice, simply misses. She is now prone)
The battle raged on,
The Monarch landing a solid series of punches, finally concussed
The Mormodillo, his eyes going glassy as he still lay trapped in the Lahar concrete.
Tephra, now in a bloody berserk rage aimed at everyone on the field but
Kronus shrieked; her glassy obsidian form cracking as her molten blood forced its way out of her basalt form...the Explosion showered everyone with shards of stone, superheated steam, and molten magma... the glowing crater where she had stood bore mute testimony to the power of a volcanic eruption.
OOC: Tephra uses her Alternate Form: Explosion power, and everyone is within the area of affect. Only The Mormodillo and Molly Kewler are unaffected.
The Fakir put his lips to his
Pungi Flute and began playing a hypnotic tune, attempting to lull
The Monarch into a stupor. Though the Primate's eyes glazed over for a split-second, he quickly shook his head and regained his wits.
"So,"
Kronus said to his assembled adversaries, "
all of
The Cranium's underlings would square off against The Mighty
Kronus!...then so be it. Come jackals, learn your lesson the hard way."
The Cosmic Commissar, hearing these words, swooped down above the collected heroes.
"We are not
The Cranium's people. We assumed you were."
Momentarily everyone held their breath.
"If you aren't working for
The Cranium, the who are you?"
Arc Angel asked no one in particular. She took the spare moment to lightning the concrete holding her ally,
The Mormodillo, releasing him as he regained his composure.
At this point, the characters began sorting out exactly who they all were. Apologies were exchanged for the misunderstanding and
Molly asked...
"Who was that woman with the fiery hair and the glassy skin?"
"Oh No..."
The Monarch said, resignedly.
(OOC: Tephra, currently invisible and incorporeal, attempts a will save to come out of her berserk rage and fails. She takes a free action to reform and immdiately explodes again
After everyone's damage was calculated from
Tephra's seond detonation
( )
The Cosmic Commissar asked
Monarch Can she hear us Tovarisch?"
The Monarch nodded and began to speak aloud...of the times they had spent watching each other's backs, of how she saved his life many times over and vice versa...and how they are now among friends.
The Comissar, feeling a little stupid, but understanding the plan, began to try and "talk her down".
(OOC: The Monarch spends a hero point attempts to use his Inspire Feat to give Tephra a +2 on her Will save. The Commissar attempts to give her a further +2 using his Diplomacy skill. Both are successful, as is the Will save.
As the group gathers around the re-formed (though hardly reformed
) Volcano Elemental, they notice a squat, dwarfish man in a black leather jumpsuit standing within the parking fence of
Warehouse 13A. When he sees he has been spotted he "vanishes" in a puff of coloured smoke.
Everyone succesfully rolls to recognize
The Mumbler, ex-lackey for
The Cranium, and current member of the supervillain cabal known as
Damage Incorporated...
Seconds after he vanished, lights could be seen going on in the warehouse...
(OOC: We had to knock off at this point and go see LotR: TTT at a midnight showing. More to come when we start playing again after the holidays...
. If you find a little extra time, check out the Holiday Iron DM thread -- there's a surprise inside 
.
