Variant Earth 13 E Mail Game Archive Number 9

Subject: Re: [v13] A Minor Disturbance In Causality...
Date:    Mon, 26 Apr 1999 22:20:41 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Reaper tears his eyes away from the unusual sight..."guys,
> I think something VERY 'out-there' is going on here, and
> waiting for it is definately not high on my list...does
> anyone else think that high-flyin' robots are kinda not
> *normal* even for New York?  In that case, lets find
> somewhere safer to hash this out eh?"

With a thump, Masque lands on the ground next to the tree.

He looks up at the Robots and then looks at the new guy, Reaper...

"There is nothing normal about any kind of 'Robot'. The only good
'Robot' is a broken 'Robot'"

He says the word Robot with a Hissing sound, as if he doesn't quite like
...Robots. In fact, the world was perfectly fine while 'Robots' and
their  creators were...well, non-existent. Oh what a world that would
be. Nothing but cotton candy and grape kool-aid. Maybe some hot dogs.
Oh, and some perfectly good Milk, Fresh from the Cow's teats. Oh the
Beautiful Bovine taste...mmmmmmmmm. That's where we would be without all
those 'Robots'

> He gets on his motorcycle, "I can fit one more on here -
> once we figure out where we're goin' - anyone need a lift?"

He looks at the Motorcycle with disdain, one might even detect an air of
vengefulness, and hisses...

"Maybe the Lady, but I have my own means of transportation. Don't get me
wrong, I appreciate yer kindness but as My pappy always said, or was it
my parakeet....'The only good Motorcycle is a broken motorcycle, the
only good motorcycle is a broken motorcycle, braaak'....."

Masque scratches his chin for a moment...

"Definitely my parakeet"

> Sil slipped past the men, <<Mosta them can fly, all I do
> is teleport, but I can't even do that if I don't know where I'm going...>>

> The little telepath swung up on the back of the bike, and settled in place.

Masque's Mask glows for a moment and his trusty steed appears next to him
and Masque hops on...

"Have I introduced myself to you kind sir? I am Masque, student of the Mystic Arts and Hater of the Technology, at your service... well I do expect a 15% gratuity, but hey, a mage has to eat sometimes...."

And with that smile of his and the trademark thumbs up he says...

"Where to?"

<Now we're cookin' with kindling>

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Tue, 27 Apr 1999 04:50:27 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"Um, Ronin, right? Sorry, I'm not great with names. I was wondering
>if you would be willing to aid a damsel in distress? OK, I know, I
>know. I'm no damsel, but here's what's going on. The organization I
>work for mainly is going to be trashed by that Roy Shijitzu guy. He's
>that dishonorable coward who set me up to go to jail. He's set up a
>spy or spies inside the D.A.A. and plans on spilling the beans on all
>of their activities. This would be a Very Bad Thing since a good deal
>of what they do shouldn't be public knowledge. It would set the
>citizens of this country at each others' throats. I don't know if you
>care about America, but surely you can see what kind of chaos would
>ensue if Roy gets his way?!" she pleads with the oriental man,
>looking obviously uncomfortable with having to ask for help.

The young Japanese man only frowns slightly as you address him as
'Ronin'.  Obviously not his name, but he accepts it nonetheless.  He
listens politely to your plea and it a moment or two before he
replies.

"I do not know anything about your organization or affairs, Miss Jinx.
 Nor do I wish to.  Seeing your demeanor and conduct, I doubt highly
that their actions are honourable.  However, I do respect your
prowress as a warrior and a comrade-in-arms.  You are right...I have
no allegence to the United States.  But you are also right in that I
am now Ronin....without clan or master.  And it would seem that my
parents reside in this nation and may in fact be residents if not
citizens.  For their sakes I will assist you.  Indirectly I will be
helping them.  But know that my sole priority is finding my family.
I will help you as long as your efforts do not hinder my own."

The young warrior says his piece then looks at you expectantly.
Wonder what he's waiting for?

Subject: RE: [v13] A beginning... (Rebound & the Superfreinds)
Date:    Tue, 27 Apr 1999 09:46:28 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Do you bail out before this goon gets you killed, or do you stick around
> to see what he does once he's sober again?  After all, according to ol'
> Gruff, he's the single most powerful guy in the world.  You don't meet
> them all that often...

Rebound picks Ken up and settles the poor guy down on his couch and
tries to make him comfortable.  He then tries to re-attach the door and
find something to cover the window.

"I can't believe this...I'm baby-sitting Superman.  I just can't wait
until he wakes up with a hangover.  Now where would I find some
aspirin..."

Rebound starts to search Ken's apartment for some aspirin (starting in
the bathroom medicine cabinet-imagine that).  Once he finds it, he'll
sit down and watch some TV while waiting for Ken to wake up.

Subject: Re: [v13] Stone Cold Release!
Date:    Tue, 27 Apr 1999 13:26:46 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

I do my best Iceman imitation and create a soft wall of ice in between
the 2 of us to keep the anyone on the bus from getting harmed while I
become stone and strecth my arms to decrease the impact.  (Ice roll:
76, Stone & stretch: 84).  If that works I check on the key, Tammy, & 7-D man.

Subject: Re: [v13] A Minor Disturbance In Causality...
Date:    Tue, 27 Apr 1999 17:09:48 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> With a thump, Masque lands on the ground next to the tree.

> He looks up at the Robots and then looks at the new guy, Reaper...

> "There is nothing normal about any kind of 'Robot'. The only good
> 'Robot' is a broken 'Robot'"

> He says the word Robot with a Hissing sound, as if he doesn't quite like...
> Robots.  In fact, the world was perfectly fine while 'Robots' and their  
> creators were... well, non-existent.  Oh what a world that would be.  Nothing 
> but cotton candy and grape Kool-aid.  Maybe some hot dogs.  Oh, and some 
> perfectly good Milk, Fresh from the Cow's teats.  Oh the Beautiful Bovine 
> taste... mmmmmmmmm.  That's where we would be without all those 'Robots'

Reaper looks at him with what seems to be a more and more permanent look of bewilderment...

> "Maybe the Lady, but I have my own means of transportation.  Don't get me 
> wrong, I appreciate yer kindness but as My pappy always said, or was it my 
> parakeet....'The only good Motorcycle is a broken motorcycle, the only good 
> motorcycle is a broken motorcycle, braaak'....."

> Masque scratches his chin for a moment...

> "Definitely my parakeet"

"Okay..." Reaper says, shaking his head...

>> Sil slipped past the men, <<Mosta them can fly, all I do is teleport, but I 
>> can't even do that if I don't know where I'm going...>>

>> The little telepath swung up on the back of the bike, and settled in place.

Reaper nods to her, checking that she's secure behind him.

> Masque's Mask glows for a oment and his trusty steed
> appears next to him
> and Masque hops on...

> "Have I introduced myself to you kind sir? I am Masque, student of the
> Mystic Arts and Hater of the Technology, at your service... well I do
> expect a 15% gratuity, but hey, a mage has to eat sometimes...."

> And with that smile of his and the trademark thumbs up he
> says...

> "Where to?"

Reaper just shakes his head, smiling.  A genuine smile, and not something his face seems used to doing...  "Whatever...Masque?  I guess I have no other choice but to be glad to meet ya..."  He looks back to Sil, and then to Masque and everyone else, "I am Reaper, 'least thats what I'm goin' by these days...just a few hours ago I was tryin' to keep my sanity, while fighting God knows what... now I'm hanging with a bunch of people I've never met, riding a bike that follows me accross dimensions, and listening to a woman talk to me in my head...and for some reason none of this seems odd to me..."

He starts the motorcycle, "Lets get outta here - someplace safe and close - don't want anyone to wonder why a man is riding a horse around New York this late at night!  Anyone ever been here before?"

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Tue, 27 Apr 1999 19:46:30 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx just nods, then her forehead wrinkles a bit before she speaks again,
"Um, hey! Yeah! Maybe I can help you find your family. Yeah! If you help
me here, I can do my best to get done what you need to get done..."

She looks pretty damn sincere, resorting to kindness in her most desperate hour!

Subject: Re: [v13] A Minor Disturbance In Causality...
Date:    Tue, 27 Apr 1999 21:26:05 -0600
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

> He starts the motorcycle, "Lets get outta here - someplace safe and close - 
> don't want anyone to wonder why a man is riding a horse around New York this 
> late at night!  Anyone ever been here before?"

She gave him a squeeze, <<Don't worry... Nothing like
this happens back where I'm from. We're all telepaths,
and have the ability to manipulate the Shadowrealm and
darkness to some degree or another... I've lived in New
York for quite some time now... but it might not be *this*
New York. >>

<tag>

Subject: Re: [v13] A Minor Disturbance In Causality...
Date:    Tue, 27 Apr 1999 23:11:29 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Reaper just shakes his head, smiling.  A genuine smile, and
> not something his face seems used to doing...
> "Whatever...Masque?  I guess I have no other choice but to
> be glad to meet ya..."  He looks back to Sil, and then to
> Masque and everyone else, "I am Reaper,  'least that's what
> I'm goin' by these days...just a few hours ago I was tryin'
> to keep my sanity, while fighting God knows what...now I'm
> hanging with a bunch of people I've never met, riding a
> bike that follows me across dimensions, and listening to a
> woman talk to me in my head...and for some reason none of
> this seems odd to me..."

"Heh, she does a great job, one can't even see her lips move"

> He starts the motorcycle, "Lets get outta here - someplace
> safe and close - don't want anyone to wonder why a man is
> riding a horse around New York this late at night!  Anyone
> ever been here before?"

Masque raises his hand...

"oooo, ooo me, me...Oh nevermind....I really don't live here"

Masque stops raising his hand.

<ummm>

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Rebound & the Superfreinds)
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 13:30:31 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

> Rebound starts to search Ken's apartment for some aspirin (starting in
> the bathroom medicine cabinet-imagine that).  Once he finds it, he'll
> sit down and watch some TV while waiting for Ken to wake up.

It's a long wait.  The man stays unconscious clean into the next day.
However, this allows you to catch up with the world, some, and all the
lovely infomercials that you've missed since your trip south.  There's
not that many new ones, as you found out.

Ken finally wakes up around 2 P.M., looking generally confused.  "What?
Where?!  Who?!?"  It takes him a few minutes to recover his memory of
the day before, and he sighs and takes the proferred aspirin.  He
apparently does have a hangover, still, though that doesn't explain his
sleep time.

Twenty four hours, and all.

But, once he's recovered some of his senses, he thanks you for the
aspirin. "So, I'm a bit fuzzy about what happened after we left the
bar.  I seem to remember something... big... hitting me hard.  Very,
very hard.  What was all that again?"

After you tell him, he looks ashen.  "I... flew here?  Oh, great.  So I
can fly now... even better.  Oy.  As soon as somebody figures out what I
can do, I'm never going to be able to sleep again.  Or the government
will get rid of me.  Sheesh..."

Ken gets up, grabs a big ol' glass of filtered water, and gulps it
down.  "So, what's your story?"

(?)

Subject: RE: [v13] A beginning... (Rebound & the Superfreinds)
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 14:37:40 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Ken gets up, grabs a big ol' glass of filtered water, and gulps it
> down.  "So, what's your story?"

"My story?  Well, that's a tale yet to be told.  I used to work for the
government.  That was before..."

Rebound pauses in his recollection in realization of just how drastic this all is

"Well, it was before I became like this.  They sent me on a mission and this is what happened to me."

Rebound peels off his right glove to show the misshapen flesh dripping with ooze beneath.  He holds it up for display as his body sags under the weight of his own self-loathing.

"You got off lucky.  All you have to deal with is a tattoo that makes you tougher, stronger, faster.  Hell, I bet you could take my best shot and not even notice.  What could the government possibly do to you?  It's not like this kind of thing happens all the time.  At least not that I know of.  Maybe there's someone out there who knows how and why these things happen to us, but that's not me."

Rebound replaces his glove, thankful to have the fabric once again covering his skin.

"Trust me, you don't want me to take off this mask."

Rebound turns away from Ken, suddenly sorry for his outburst.  "Sorry, Ken, I know you are trying to adjust to the new you.  I just get worked up whenever I think about what was taken from me.  You see, they stole my whole life from me.  Could you go back to your family looking like this?  I couldn't either.  They think I'm dead, and I would rather have it that way."

Subject: Re: [v13] A Minor Disturbance In Causality...
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 13:56:02 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Michael Joiner wrote:

>> Well I do expect a 15% gratuity, but hey, a mage has to eat
>> sometimes..."

>> And with that smile of his and the trademark thumbs up he
>> says...

>> "Where to?"

> Reaper just shakes his head, smiling.  A genuine smile, and
> not something his face seems used to doing...
> "Whatever...Masque?  I guess I have no other choice but to
> be glad to meet ya..."  He looks back to Sil, and then to
> Masque and everyone else, "I am Reaper,  'least thats what
> I'm goin by these days...just a few hours ago I was tryin'
> to keep my sanity, while fighting God knows what...now I'm
> hanging with a bunch of people I've never met, riding a
> bike that follows me accross dimensions, and listening to a
> woman talk to me in my head...and for some reason none of
> this seems odd to me..."

> He starts the motorcycle, "Lets get outta here - someplace
> safe and close - don't want anyone to wonder why a man is
> riding a horse around New York this late at night!  Anyone
> ever been here before?"

Lady Arakne wrote:

> She gave him a squeeze, <<Don't worry... Nothing like
> this happens back where I'm from. We're all telepaths,
> and have the ability to manipulate the Shadowrealm and
> darkness to some degree or another... I've lived in New
> York for quite some time now... but it might not be *this*
> New York. >>

Chris W. Acers wrote:

> "Heh, she does a great job, one can't even see her lips move"

>> He starts the motorcycle, "Lets get outta here - someplace safe and
>> close - don't want anyone to wonder why a man is riding a horse around
>> New York this late at night!  Anyone ever been here before?"

> Masque raises his hand...

> "oooo, ooo me, me...Oh nevermind....I really don't live here"

> Masque stops raising his hand.

"Well, we *could* always head back to my apartment, in order to hide out
for a while.  However, it may take a bit, as I lack any sort of special
motive ability.  Of course, there's always the threat of these silly
mage people out there, but I want to settle something with Halby here."

"Once and for all."

Having said his peace, Och stops, while the Magician looks at him
oddly.  Nonetheless, he's of the same mind.  "I concur.  I want to deal
this odd little man out of my life forever, and if we can draw them
Brethren idiots out, so much the better."

Och glares at him, but before any of you leave, you hear the screeching
sounds of a bus coming to a critical stop.  Looking around, you see it
is bearing down on three people hard, as if they'd just materialized out
of nowhere.  Before it can smear them about, though, something odd happens.

The man in the little trio turns all rocky-like, and a wall of ice seems
to appear out of nowhere between him and the bus.  He's doing something
else, and it seems that the bus is, indeed, slowing down enough to not
kill any of them.

It would seem that the weirdos are coming out of the woodwork, now.
What do you all do?!

Subject: Re: [v13] Stone Cold Release!
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 14:02:50 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

You do the icy number, and combined with your stretchy maneuver, you
manage to slow the bus down enough to keep it from wiping the lot of you
out.  As it is, the impact merely covers you three in ice and snow.  Of
course, you were *already* halfway covered in ice, so that's no big
deal.

Brushing yourselves off, you and Tammy seem to have the same idea, to
check on each other to make sure you're all okay.  She's fine, and it
would seem that, though still out cold, the 7-D Man is unharmed - any
more, at any rate.  Also, the sapphire key is just fine, undamaged
through this mess.

However, it is glowing with an eerie blue light.

You hear some activity from the bus, and a bit of shouting, as well.
Looking closer, you realize that this isn't your average, everyday
passenger bus.  Sure, it's riddled with bullet holes, but it just looks
somewhat out of place, at least compared to most other civic buses.

For one thing, the windows seem to be solid black glass, as opposed to
merely tinted.  And the driver seems to have an odd bus drivin'
uniform.  For instance, he's wearing a heavy combat helmet, along with a
mirrored visor and what appear to be thick thermal pads.

He's looking at the three of you with downright shock.

What do you do?

Subject: RE: [v13] A beginning... (Rebound & the Superfreinds)
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 15:05:12 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Ken stops and thinks some more, and you can see that he's having a hard
> time adjusting to the fact that he seems to be invincible.  But, he
> seems to be doing better than some people you could think of; he's not
> making plans for world domination, as far as you can tell.

> "What do you think I should do?"

"Well, Ken, as I see it, you have two options.  You can learn to live
with your power and continue on as a mechanic.  Or you can try to do
some good in the world."

Rebound shakes his head in amazement. "I'm not the best person to ask for advice, but what the hell...Maybe we should move to New York and take a bite out of crime.  I'm from that area originally and have a pretty good idea where to start if you are up to it.  Then again, you probably know where to start around here..."

Subject: Re: [v13] A beginning... (Rebound & the Superfreinds)
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 14:09:39 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

> Rebound turns away from Ken, suddenly sorry for his outburst.  "Sorry,
> Ken, I know you are trying to adjust to the new you.  I just get worked
> up whenever I think about what was taken from me.  You see, they stole
> my whole life from me.  Could you go back to your family looking like
> this?  I couldn't either.  They think I'm dead, and I would rather have
> it that way."

"... I see."  Ken looks at the arm for a bit, and thinks about his
situation.  "You're right, and I'm the one that ought to be sorry, here.  I didn't realize what had happened to you.  After hanging out with those other two bozos, I just figured the costume was just a costume."

"I'm just trying to figure out what exactly I am, and what I should do
with it, I guess.  I just don't know.  I can't see myself running around
in a costume, doing good deeds, and eating apple pie all the way.
That's just something that happens in movies, right?"

Ken stops and thinks some more, and you can see that he's having a hard
time adjusting to the fact that he seems to be invincible.  But, he
seems to be doing better than some people you could think of; he's not
making plans for world domination, as far as you can tell.

"What do you think I should do?"

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 15:16:48 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>Jinx just nods, then her forehead wrinkles a bit before she speaks
>again, "Um, hey! Yeah! Maybe I can help you find your family. Yeah!
>If you help me here, I can do my best to get done what you need to
>get done..."

>She looks pretty damn sincere, resorting to kindness in her most
>desperate hour!

Ronin holds back a serious frown at that idea.

"No... that will not be necessary.  You appearance and demeanor would cause me to lose face with my family.  Your help is not necessary."

His tone is very matter-of-factly.

"Where shall we start with your quest?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Stone Cold Release!
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 13:23:02 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"Is there a problem sir?"  As I say to Tammy, "I can't wait to drop stupid off, he has ported us somewhere else and it still isn't home."  Doing my best to keep the key safe, I try to think of home hoping that possibly the key has some connection to 7-D's powers. 

Subject: Re: [v13] A Minor Disturbance In Causality...
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 14:03:08 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

>> She gave him a squeeze, <<Don't worry... Nothing like this happens back where 
>> I'm from. We're all telepaths, and have the ability to manipulate the 
>> shadowrealm and darkness to some degree or another...  I've lived in New York 
>> for quite some time now... but it might not be *this* New York.>>

Reaper seems slightly affected by the squeeze...a little flushed..."Um...yeah, hey that's better than nothin' eh?" he stammers.

> (snippity snip snip)

Reaper watches what's happening, "Normally I'd say let people who can turn into rock live their own lives, but if these guys just showed up like we did, maybe we oughta help out here!"

He guns the engine, and takes off in the direction of the bus.

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 18:40:31 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

[Rolled a 67 to keep her in line]

Jinx blinks at Ronin's harsh (but true) words and has to struggle to keep her temper.

"Um. Right. Sure. Well, let's get back to Hawk and the rest of the Joes and we'll head out to one of the D.A.A. safehouses to see if I can catch any news before we head to the closest HQ." she gets out before turning around and leaving the room, gritting her teeth not to add any "coloration" to her dialogue.

[Whoo! What a couple! Almost as good as Jinx and Hardcore!]

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 17:49:24 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

Quick question - since a huge coming together is looming in our futures - the "Joes" - the "G.I. Joes" - are they from "our" dimension?  meaning Reaper's of course...or are they from somewhere else?  And more to the point - if they are
*not* from Reaper's dimension - are they still a cartoon there?  As in, will our people see the living embodiment of a cartoon - or the "heroes" of our world's
military?...or...something "else"???

Just wondering (not taking anything for granted as obviously making sense! Weirdness seems to abound!!!)

Subject: Re: [v13] A Minor Disturbance In Causality...
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 19:24:20 -0600
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

Reaper watches whats happening, "Normally I'd say let people who can turn into rock live their own lives, but if these guys just showed up like we did, maybe we oughta help out here!"

He guns the engine, and takes off in the direction of the bus.

<<I'm with you on that...>> Sil replied, hugging the man tighter, as the bike gunned foward (ooc: what's Reaper look like,anyway?).

(OOC: Sil's a very beautiful young "elven" extradimensional alien, dark green hair/eyes, medium to dark olive skin, 6 fingers/hand 6 toes/foot, all of 5'4", 132 lbs. She's incredibly agile, but not much on brute strength, but she's inhumanly tough and heals real quick. She's wearing a costume that looks like Cerebra's from X-men 2099 green and black, though her arms are covered... I'll put up a pic and email the link later :) )

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Wed, 28 Apr 1999 19:53:51 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Peter Chamers wrote:

>> Jinx just nods, then her forehead wrinkles a bit before she speaks
>> again, "Um, hey! Yeah! Maybe I can help you find your family. Yeah!
>> If you help me here, I can do my best to get done what you need to
>> get done..."

>> She looks pretty damn sincere, resorting to kindness in her most
>> desperate hour!

> Ronin holds back a serious frown at that idea.

> "No..that will not be necessary.  You appearance and demeanor would
> cause me to lose face with my family.  Your help is not necessary."

> His tone is very matter-of-factly.

> "Where shall we start with your quest?"

Bil Lockwood wrote:

> [Rolled a 67 to keep her in line]

> Jinx blinks at Ronin's harsh (but true) words and has to struggle to
> keep her temper.

> "Um. Right. Sure. Well, let's get back to Hawk and the rest of the Joes
> and we'll head out to one of the D.A.A. safehouses to see if I can catch
> any news before we head to the closest HQ." she gets out before turning
> around and leaving the room, gritting her teeth not to add any
> "coloration" to her dialogue.

> [Whoo! What a couple! Almost as good as Jinx and Hardcore!]

Word.

The two of you, without Hardcore (who's mysteriously absent for some
reason), head down to the Jacob.  Waiting there, Hawk waves for Flash to
start up the bus, and as soon as the two of you are onboard, you're
off!  Of course, what with N.Y.C. traffic, it's slow-going.

As you approach the D.A.A.'s nearest safehouse, you all see something
rather disturbing flying over Central Park.  It appears to be two
robots, one of which is holding the other by the 'armpits', as if to
keep it upright.  Almost as if it lacked the proper ability to do so.

The tricky thing, though, is that you recognize those chrome-covered,
jump jet wielding, heavily armed robots, Jinx:  they're Mutilators!
Apparently, this is part of the evil Shijitzu's plan, to send these
monstrosities into the D.A.A. complex - possibly to retrieve his errant
neuropathic processor.

Or simply to bring the place down.

As you point the thing out and give off a string of four letter words,
Jinx, the world suddenly goes blank.  It's like somebody popped on their
headlights, really powerful headlights, but the white is all around you
all... as if you were nonexistant.

In fact, you don't see the others, and the others can't see you.  All of
you in the Jacob seem to be stuck in your own, singular nothingness, not
able to see anything save for this impressive white glare.  It's not
blinding, mind you, just all-encompassing.

You're in this state for an indeterminate period of time - it could've
been mere seconds, or an infinity or two - but when it ends, things seem
back to normal.  Except, of course, for those three people that have
just materialized in front of the Joe bus.

As soon as he sees them, Flash slams his foot on the brakes, but it
looks like it's going to be too late.  Before you know it, however, a
big wall of ice and snow has appeared in front of you, and these
stony-looking hands reach the dash, and push against it.

The bus slows down to the point that it can't penetrate the icy wall,
and those three folks are saved from a squishy doom.  Once the ice and
snow settle down, you can clearly see that the folks on the other side
of the ersatz wall are coated in snow, but okay.

He looks at a gaping Flash, and says "Is there a problem, sir?"  Of
course, Flash is totally stunned by this bizarro turn of events.  It
seems that ever since he and the other Joes came in contact with you,
Jinx, that there has been no end to the weirdness that has followed.

What do the two of you do?

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Thu, 29 Apr 1999 00:46:08 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Michael Joiner wrote:

> Quick question - since a huge coming together is looming in our futures -
> the "Joes" - the "G.I. Joes" - are they from "our" dimension?  meaning
> Reaper's of course...or are they from somewhere else?  And more to the
> point - if they are *not* from Reaper's dimension - are they still a
> cartoon there?  As in, will our people see the living embodiment of
> a cartoon - or the "heroes" of our world's military?...or...something
> "else"???

> Just wondering (not taking anything for granted as obviously making
> sense! Weirdness seems to abound!!!)

> Thanks!

Hey, no problem.  It is kind of an oddity, in that it's one of the few
elements I've added to the v13 world that isn't my own.  Well, that and
the whole Star Brand thing, but that's a different matter...  Anyways,
for the record, in your world, there was no G.I.Joe cartoon (or comic,
or toy).

Just think of them as having been replaced by less cool,
not-so-remarkable toy lines between 1982-1994... heh heh.  As far as
public knowledge is concerned, and Reaper's, G.I.Joe is a special
anti-terrorist branch of the armed forces, the
best-of-the-best-of-the-best, if you will.

The public actually knows very little about the group, though, in that
only one of their missions has been exposed to public scrutiny - namely,
the rescue of a scientist that created a 'doomsday' weapon for the U.S.
military.  She'd been kidnapped by a terrorist group called Cobra.

Yes, them.

As far as the 'cartoon' is concerned, I'm more sticking to the character
representations from the comic, and think of this as occurring for them
between issues 7 and 8; I decided to go with the originals, 'cause i
simply liked them better... =)

Hope that little explanation helps.  I don't consider it ruining story
elements by telling, as it is something any of your characters could
know simply by watching the news.  Or, in the case of Rebound, having
worked with them for a time.  One never knows...

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Thu, 29 Apr 1999 11:49:09 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>[Rolled a 67 to keep her in line]

[Shouldn't that have been a 97?!?]

>Jinx blinks at Ronin's harsh (but true) words and has to struggle to
>keep her temper.

>"Um. Right. Sure. Well, let's get back to Hawk and the rest of the
>Joes and we'll head out to one of the D.A.A. safehouses to see if
>I can catch any news before we head to the closest HQ." she gets
>out before turning around and leaving the room, gritting her teeth
>not to add any "coloration" to her dialogue.

The warrior nods grimly.  "Yes...let us be on our way."
Ronin quickly grabs his overcoat, belongs and most importantly his
sword.  He follows Jinx out of the hotel room.  He smiles briefly
as he follows behind Jinx.

>[Whoo! What a couple! Almost as good as Jinx and Hardcore!]

[Even better...cause I'm nicer and cuter. :P]

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Thu, 29 Apr 1999 12:11:29 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>He looks at a gaping Flash, and says "Is there a problem, sir?"  Of
>course, Flash is totally stunned by this bizarro turn of events.  It
>seems that ever since he and the other Joes came in contact with you,
>Jinx, that there has been no end to the weirdness that has followed.

Ronin lets out a series of oaths and curses (no profanity) in Japanese
that basically equates to: "Damn foreign barbarians and their messed
up, freaky, totally chaotic ways!"

Ronin draws his blade and goes to face down the 'new comers'.

"Who are you and what is going on here?!?"

Guess having seen his fair share of extadimensional weirdoes, he
isn't in the mood to be all nice and sociable.

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Thu, 29 Apr 1999 19:06:34 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

[Hey! All I need is a Green FEAT to be nice! *grin*]

Jinx snags her guns and lugs herself out of her seat to peek out the
door of the Jacob to see what's going on, seeing that Ronin is being
belligerent enough for the both of them.

She chuckles to herself seeing him snap like this, but realizes they
have to hurry. Thinking of her mission she looks to the skies again,
trying to find the Mutilators.

"Damnit! Where did those rust buckets go!?" she cursed to herself,
making her way out of the Jacob and toward Ronin and the new obstacles.

"Hey! We have a job to do! People, thank you for not being crushed on
the grill of this bus, but now kindly get the hell out of the way! Can't
you see we're driving here?!" she hollered, slipping her guns into their
holsters.

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Thu, 29 Apr 1999 00:46:08 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@darkspiral.com>

Michael Joiner wrote:

> Quick question - since a huge coming together is looming in our futures -
> the "Joes" - the "G.I. Joes" - are they from "our" dimension?  meaning
> Reaper's of course...or are they from somewhere else?  And more to the
> point - if they are *not* from Reaper's dimension - are they still a
> cartoon there?  As in, will our people see the living embodiment of
> a cartoon - or the "heroes" of our world's military?...or...something
> "else"???

> Just wondering (not taking anything for granted as obviously making
> sense! Weirdness seems to abound!!!)

> Thanks!

Hey, no problem.  It is kind of an oddity, in that it's one of the few
elements I've added to the v13 world that isn't my own.  Well, that and
the whole Star Brand thing, but that's a different matter...  Anyways,
for the record, in your world, there was no G.I.Joe cartoon (or comic,
or toy).

Just think of them as having been replaced by less cool,
not-so-remarkable toy lines between 1982-1994... heh heh.  As far as
public knowledge is concerned, and Reaper's, G.I.Joe is a special
anti-terrorist branch of the armed forces, the
best-of-the-best-of-the-best, if you will.

The public actually knows very little about the group, though, in that
only one of their missions has been exposed to public scrutiny - namely,
the rescue of a scientist that created a 'doomsday' weapon for the U.S.
military.  She'd been kidnapped by a terrorist group called Cobra.

Yes, them.

As far as the 'cartoon' is concerned, I'm more sticking to the character
representations from the comic, and think of this as occurring for them
between issues 7 and 8; I decided to go with the originals, 'cause i
simply liked them better... =)

Hope that little explanation helps.  I don't consider it ruining story
elements by telling, as it is something any of your characters could
know simply by watching the news.  Or, in the case of Rebound, having
worked with them for a time.  One never knows...

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Thu, 29 Apr 1999 11:49:09 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>[Rolled a 67 to keep her in line]

[Shouldn't that have been a 97?!?]

>Jinx blinks at Ronin's harsh (but true) words and has to struggle to
>keep her temper.

>"Um. Right. Sure. Well, let's get back to Hawk and the rest of the
>Joes and we'll head out to one of the D.A.A. safehouses to see if
>I can catch any news before we head to the closest HQ." she gets
>out before turning around and leaving the room, gritting her teeth
>not to add any "coloration" to her dialogue.

The warrior nods grimly.  "Yes...let us be on our way."
Ronin quickly grabs his overcoat, belongs and most importantly his
sword.  He follows Jinx out of the hotel room.  He smiles briefly
as he follows behind Jinx.

>[Whoo! What a couple! Almost as good as Jinx and Hardcore!]

[Even better...cause I'm nicer and cuter. :P]

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Thu, 29 Apr 1999 12:11:29 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>The bus slows down to the point that it can't penetrate the icy wall,
>and those three folks are saved from a squishy doom.  Once the ice
>& snow settle down, you can clearly see that the folks on the other
>side of the ersatz wall are coated in snow, but okay.

>He looks at a gaping Flash, and says "Is there a problem, sir?"  Of
>course, Flash is totally stunned by this bizarro turn of events.  It
>seems that ever since he and the other Joes came in contact with you,
>Jinx, that there has been no end to the weirdness that has followed.

Ronin lets out a series of oaths and curses (no profanity) in Japanese
that basically equates to: "Damn foreign barbarians and their messed
up, freaky, totally chaotic ways!"

Ronin draws his blade and goes to face down the 'new comers'.

"Who are you and what is going on here?!?"

Guess having seen his fair share of extradimensional weirdoes, he
isn't in the mood to be all nice and sociable.

Subject: Re: [v13] New York City?!
Date:    Thu, 29 Apr 1999 19:06:34 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

[Hey! All I need is a Green FEAT to be nice! *grin*]

Jinx snags her guns and lugs herself out of her seat to peek out the
door of the Jacob to see what's going on, seeing that Ronin is being
belligerent enough for the both of them.

She chuckles to herself seeing him snap like this, but realizes they
have to hurry. Thinking of her mission she looks to the skies again,
trying to find the Mutilators.

"Damnit! Where did those rust buckets go!?" she cursed to herself,
making her way out of the Jacob and toward Ronin and the new obstacles.

"Hey! We have a job to do! People, thank you for not being crushed on
the grill of this bus, but now kindly get the hell out of the way! Can't
you see we're driving here?!" she hollered, slipping her guns into their
holsters.

Subject: Re: [v13] A Minor Disturbance In Causality...
Date:    Fri, 30 Apr 1999 16:43:36 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

--- Lady Arakne <araknesweb@darkspiral.com> wrote:

> <<I'm with you on that...>> Sil replied, hugging the man
> tighter, as the bike gunned forward (ooc: what's Reaper look like, anyway?).

Reaper races towards the bus, slowing to a stop as he sees the occupants begin to emerge.  He stops the bike far enough away as to not be in the middle of whatever is going on, but close enough to get in there if need be.  He turns
the bike off (OOC - as I recall its a Harley - albeit modified 'just a little' - so hearing is an issue if the engine is running!)  He looks back at Sil to make sure she's okay...then watches the scene unfold...

OOC:

Reaper appears to resemble a half-Asian young man in his early 20's, about 6' tall with blue eyes and black hair.  He wears his hair long and somewhat shaggy - mostly just unkempt.  He wears baggy denim pants, and a loose fitting tank top.  Underneath he has something of a gymnast's build - compact muscles, but not 'extreme'.  He occasionally wears a fleece over-shirt.

When he utilizes his power - the ions immediately around him become excited - and it has the effect of a wind blowing up his body.  His eyes turn white and appear 'charged'.  This occurs every time he exerts his power except for when he uses it extremely mildly - as when he is generating just enough heat to stay warm in the winter wearing a tank top - the sensation is more like a light
breeze of warm air (something someone on a bike immediately behind him would feel a little bit of!)

I'll try to have a pic or something soon...

Subject: FW: [v13] A beginning... (Rebound & the Superfreinds)
Date:    Tue, 4 May 1999 14:23:48 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Rebound shakes his head in amazement. "I'm not the best person to ask
> for advice, but what the hell...Maybe we should move to New York and
> take a bite out of crime.  I'm from that area originally and have a
> pretty good idea where to start if you are up to it.  Then again, you
> probably know where to start around here..."

Subject: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 04 May 1999 13:39:49 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

You were left to your own devices, Hardcore, after the Joe bus left for
parts unknown.  Jinx and Ronin went up to their respective rooms in the
Hilton hotel, and having nothing better to do, you went to get a bite to
eat - the hotel had an excellent bar 'n grill.

While you were eating, you managed to take a quick look out the window,
and saw that, about forty minutes later, the Joe bus had returned, and
Jinx was practically pushing Ronin into the thing.  Before you could
investigate proper, as your leg was still sore, they were gone.

Luckily, however, the bus was somewhat sluggish in Manhattan traffic, so
it was easy enough to hop in your van and see what those two jokers were
up to - and why the Joes had come back for them.  While you were
following the Jacob, though, something happened.

Your vision was subsumed by a brilliant white light, not blinding, so
much as simply everywhere, blanking out everything else around you.  You
tried to hit your brakes, because you couldn't see, but you couldn't
feel the pedal.  In fact, you couldn't feel anything.

All you could experience was the overwhelming flash of light.  And it
seemed to go on and on and on, lasting forever.  Or maybe it was just a
second or two, when things returned to normal.  However, you found that,
just like yourself, the Jacob had slammed on its brakes.

The trick, though, was that the bus was stopping much faster than any
bus was really capable of - and you managed to hit the thing.  Not hard,
mind you, but enough to dent up your hood and crack you grill.  Cursing,
you got out of your van, when you see it.

There was an impressive mound of ice and snow - separate from that which
was descending from the air - which had physically blocked the progress
of the bus.  On the other side of it, you see three figures - one made
of animate stone!

Also, wheeling up behind those people, you see several other folks.  Two
are on a motorcycle, one's on a horse with glowing red eyes, and the
last two are running after, apparently investigating this odd accident.
Before you hear anything else, though, you hear Jinx running her mouth.

She's saying something to the stony fellow and his friends, but you
can't quite hear it - yet.  That's because, of course, there's a
symphony of honking going on behind you, as New Yorker type folks get
angry about being stopped up like this in traffic.

What do you do?

(ooc:  Okay, everybody, after a computer 'failure' and all that, I'm
back on the job... so, since the seven of you have finally run into each
other, speak up or something!  =)  Sure, I may've missed a post or two,
but I know *somebody* has something to say...)

Subject: RE: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Tue, 4 May 1999 14:52:29 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> In a slightly muffled voice, he said "There, that ought to do it.  What
> do you think?"  It's a rather funny look, really, but it does get the
> job done.  "Well, if that's settled, you wanna fly over to New York
> City, then?  See what we can do??"

"Fly over to New York City...yeah, what the hell.  I'll introduce you to
a nice quiet neighborhood known as 'hell's kitchen.'  That should be a
good place to start.  If there's nothing going down there, I'm sure we
can find some agents of ill-will in Chinatown or Little Italy.  I always
wanted to take down a mob boss, but never had the firepower for
something like that.  Now, with the two of us... watch out bad guys!
There's a new sheriff in town and he's got a mirrored helmet."

Rebound doesn't hold back his smile (you couldn't see it anyway) as he
finishes his tirade.  He looks over to Ken to make sure that he hasn't
had a heart attack yet.  If Ken is looking totally freaked, Rebound will
try to calm him down. "Hey, take it easy, it's not like we'd take on the
entire NY Mafia in one shot."

Rebound heads out the door and holds it open for Ken. (OK, so maybe he
just holds on to it to keep it from falling on the ground again, but it
gives the same impression)

"You ready chief?  Just take it a bit easy on the flight speed.  You
may be able to take it, but last time I was having more than a little
bit of trouble trying to breathe.  You also might want to come up with
some sort of a codename for me to call you.  Ken is a great name, but
it's not as impressive in a fight as 'Titan' or 'Justice'.  And you DO
seem to want to hide your identity.  I'd offer you my mask, but I'm
thinking that wouldn't be the best idea."

Subject: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Tue, 04 May 1999 13:53:51 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

Ken looks at you with some apprehension, Rebound.

Your suggestion of heading to New York to fight crime and such seems to
be giving him an ulcer, given the look on his face.  "Well, I suppose we
could do that, but I'd need to come up with a mask, at the very least.
I'd rather not let anybody know what I can do, now."

He heads over to his room, and pulls out several ski masks, but putting
them on simply makes him look like some sort of hoodlum.  "Hmm... should
I go with the helmet?"  He then digs out a few more things, and chooses
an old biking outfit for a 'costume'.

Putting the thing on, you see that, at the very least, Ken does look
impressive.  He is about six foot four, and looks somewhat menacing in
his brown leather outfit.  It's a leather jacket / pants combo,
buttoning up on the right side with five brass clasps.

Also, he's got blue boots, but didn't go with the gloves, so he could at
least show off his tatoo - or not ruin the gloves, given the nature of
the thing; it was glowing, after all.  He then topped it off with a
black helmet, which had a mirrored visor - so nobody could see his face.

In a slightly muffled voice, he said "There, that ought to do it.  What
do you think?"  It's a rather funny look, really, but it does get the
job done.  "Well, if that's settled, you wanna fly over to New York
City, then?  See what we can do??"

(?)

(ooc:  by the by, man, sorry it took me so long to respond... I meant to
on friday, but my Darkspiral account went bloody bonkers, which is why I
switched to the @home one again.  Of course, my computer then crash-ed,
so that took even longer... but here you go, man!)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 04 May 1999 18:22:04 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx is still trying to shoo everyone out of the way so the Jacob can
get back on the road and get the mission rolling, other than that, she's
not doing diddly.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 04 May 1999 18:28:08 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx jumps at Hardcore's touch, looking pretty pissed that he was able
to sneak up on her, but gets right back to business.

"I'll explain what I can once we get this bus moving again! We're going
to have a riot on our hands if we don't get these idiots off the road
and the bus rolling! Oh, and good to see you didn't disappear...maybe I
can owe you a favor too..." she added in snidely.

"Come on people! Get out of the way! We're trying to drive here!"

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 4 May 1999 18:34:04 -0500
From:    "Andy Hicks" <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>She's saying something to the stony fellow and his friends, but you
>can't quite hear it - yet.  That's because, of course, there's a
>symphony of honking going on behind you, as New Yorker type folks get
>angry about being stopped up like this in traffic.

>What do you do?

"Damn it!  I've gotta get away from these people and their bizarre shit,"
Hardcore thinks to himself as he approaches the scene in front of the Jacob.

He heads straight for where Jinx is ranting and raving, and (assuming she
doesn't spot him coming) grabs her tightly by the arm with one of his
adherent gloves.

"I hope ya didn't think you were gonna get rid o' me that easy, girl,"
Hardcore snarls.  "Now I got a busted up van back there, and judgin' from
yer track record, I figure ya probably got a pretty good idea o' what's
causin' all this!"

<Surely Jinx has plenty to say by this point...>

Only half waiting to hear Jinx out (but trying to maintain his grip on her
arm), he then turns to the three others standing in front of the bus,
asking, "How about you... Rock-man?  Ya know what this is all about?!?"

???

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 4 May 1999 18:32:45 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> <Surely Jinx has plenty to say by this point...>

> Jinx jumps at Hardcore's touch, looking pretty pissed that
> he was able to sneak up on her, but gets right back to business.

> "I'll explain what I can once we get this bus moving again!
> We're going to have a riot on our hands if we don't get these idiots
> off the road and the bus rolling! Oh, and good to see you didn't
> disappear...maybe I can owe you a favor too..." she added in snidely.

> "Come on people! Get out of the way! We're trying to drive here!"

> Only half waiting to hear Jinx out (but trying to maintain his grip on her
> arm), he then turns to the three others standing in front of the bus,
> asking, "How about you... Rock-man?  Ya know what this is all about?!?"

Reaper glances at the 'Rock-man', then back at the one speaking, "I'm definately up for getting the hell outta here - only where *is* 'here', and who are you guys?  We only stopped by 'cause you looked like you got here 'bout the same way
we did, and we thought maybe you knew more than us about where that is!"

...

"I go by the name Reaper, this is Silhouette behind me," he gestures to the woman seated on the bike, "and before all this spewed up we were trying to figure out some way to get somewhere safe!"

OOC: Much apologies if I got Sil's name mispelled!

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 04 May 1999 20:36:45 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque rides up to the trio and smiles....

"Hello, Does anyone have any carrots?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 4 May 1999 20:07:31 -0600
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

Sil stood up over the back of the bike for a better look at the strangers, her dark green eyes slowly measuring them before her lovely face broke into a smile, <<And the crazy mage with the walking glue factory calls himself Masque... We try not to take him *too* seriously.>>

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 04 May 1999 21:42:56 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx just looks even more stupefied.

"What the hell is this?! This is not some AA meeting! We're in the
middle of the street! We need to move our asses or I and whole lot of
other people are going to be in deep shit!"

Then she realizes that Sil just mind spoke and stops, her face going
from exasperated to noticeabley ticked off.

"Ack! Get out of my head! None of that telepathy shit around me, lady!
I've had too much bad shit happen around me because of at least one
known Psi!" she exclaimed, her hand dropping to her gun, but not
unholstering it.

"Damnit! No time to get distracted! Let's get the hell out of here
before we get a couple hundred angry New Yorkers barreling down on us! I
don't care what or who you guys are, just kindly step out from infront
of the damn bus and let us through!" she gestures wildly, obviously
flustered.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 04 May 1999 22:08:56 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Reaper glances at the 'Rock-man', then back at the one speaking,
> "I'm definately up for getting the hell outta here - only where *is* 'here', 
> and who are you guys?  We only stopped by 'cause you looked like you got here 
> 'bout the same way we did, and we thought maybe you knew more than us about 
> where that is!"

Masque interjects,

"My good friend, Here is Central Park, you know, the one in New York city...and I might add, they did not get here the same way we did. They were in that, that, that...."

Masque gestures towards the Bus,

"Thing."

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 5 May 1999 03:01:38 -0500
From:    "Andy Hicks" <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>"Damnit! No time to get distracted! Let's get the hell out of here
>before we get a couple hundred angry New Yorkers barreling down on us! I
>don't care what or who you guys are, just kindly step out from infront
>of the damn bus and let us through!" she gestures wildly, obviously
>flustered.

"Would ya calm down fer a goddamn minute?" Hardcore interjects, letting go
of Jinx's arm to try and soothe her nerves a bit.  "This can't be all that
serious, 'cause I don't see any Joes out here helpin' ya.  But I STILL wanna
know what the hell is goin' on out here!"

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 05 May 1999 09:31:00 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"Would ya calm down fer a goddamn minute?" Hardcore interjects, >letting go
>of Jinx's arm to try and soothe her nerves a bit.  "This can't be all that
>serious, 'cause I don't see any Joes out here helpin' ya.  But I STILL
>wanna know what the hell is goin' on out here!"

Ronin has pretty much stood here quitely, albeit with sword drawn.
He listens as those new comers introduce themselves and as his 'comrades'
assess the situation.  Having had about all that a poor lil orphan swordsman
can take, he cuts the air dramatically with his blade.

In a low, calm tone he says, "First we do as Ms Jinx suggests and move to a
more secure area.  Once there, we can make our introducations
and   then proceed to assess what has transpired here.  If I do recall,
there was some sort of mechanical being flying above head.  That cannot bode
well."

He bows ever so slight.  "Shall we go?"  He bows again and heads into the
bus (or that there thingy as Masque calls it).

Subject: Re: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Wed, 05 May 1999 12:31:20 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "You ready chief?  Just take it a bit easy on the flight speed.  You
> may be able to take it, but last time I was having more than a little
> bit of trouble trying to breathe.  You also might want to come up with
> some sort of a codename for me to call you.  Ken is a great name, but
> it's not as impressive in a fight as 'Titan' or 'Justice'.  And you DO
> seem to want to hide your identity.  I'd offer you my mask, but I'm
> thinking that wouldn't be the best idea."

He looks at you thoughtfully.  "Right... shall we?"  He carefully grabs
you under your arms, and takes to the air - but *much* slower this time.
You two are flying at about one hundred miles per hour, and you see the
landscape streaking below you most impressively.

It's kind of neat, in an utterly terrifying way.

Within an hour or two, you've both made it into New York City, amidst a
swirling snowstorm.  The cold isn't enough to seriously bother you yet,
and Ken doesn't even seem to notice as the two of you touch down in the
previously noted neighborhood - Hell's Kitchen.

Ken looks at you, sort of lost at this point.  "Well, now what?  Do we
just go walking around, waiting to see if somebody does something bad?"
He then walks out of the alley he just landed in, and looks at the
teeming weirdos that call New York City home...

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 05 May 1999 12:53:26 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> He bows ever so slight.  "Shall we go?"  He bows again and heads into
> the bus (or that there thingy as Masque calls it).

As Ronin says his peace, Hawk and Flash emerge from the bus.  He then
shrugs, looking at Jinx as if she were some sort of freak magnet.  "Ah,
me.  Now there's some sense, if I ever heard it.  Flash - get rid of
that snow!"

The indicated Joe settles down with some sort of energy gun, from the
looks of it, and starts melting away the soft snow and ice - after Tammy
and Stone Cold get out of it, that is.  As they move out of the mess,
the Seven Dimensional Man finally wakes up.

"Bloody Hell!" he screams, seeing the vast assemblage of you people from
his spot over Stone Cold's shoulders.  "I was only paid to get rid of
two of you idiots - not a whole gross of 'em!  I am *out* of here!"
With a flash of light and popping sound, the villain is gone.

That leaves you and Tammy sans villain, Stone Cold.  Which, of course,
makes for a long walk back to Atlanta.  Tammy just looks at you and
shakes her head.  "Well, I guess he could've done that anytime, but that
still sucks, eh?"

At this point, Hawk speaks up to the lot of you.  "I know you people
don't know me or anything, but we really have to get going now.  From
what Jinx here has told us, as well as what we've personally seen, we
are dealing with a serious threat to national security."

He looked liked he was going to gesture to the robots in the air, but
they have since disappeared in a north-northeasterly direction over the
building tops.  "Normally, I wouldn't do this, but from what I
understand, these things we face are seriously dangerous."

"In that vein, I'm asking you all do do your country a service - a great
service - and give us a hand with this robotic menace.  I can tell that
the lot of you have... unique abilities or equipment," gesturing to
Masque, Silhouette, Reaper, Stone Cold, Och, and Tammy.

Those of you that arrived in the City with him note, with some dismay,
that the Magician is nowhere to be seen.  Either he's hanging out
invisibly or has simply buggered off, it's hard to say.  But, as Reaper
has the book he wants, you know he'll eventually be back.

"And we could really use the help.  If you don't want to, I understand,
but a lot of people are going to die if you do not.  Just so you know
exactly what's at stake here.  We're off, and any of you that want to
come with us, just get on board or follow along!"

With that, the head Joe gets on the bus, following Ronin and being
followed, in turn, by Flash.  Och then gets on board, as well.  "It's
just a bus, Masque.  Don't look at me like that.  Besides, I know you're
just dying to smash up these personifications of high technology..."

Meanwhile, Tammy looks at you, Stone Cold.  "What do you say, big guy?
Scared of a tinker toy?"

(ooc:  you out there, Stoney??)

Subject: RE: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Wed, 5 May 1999 13:58:46 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Ken looks at you, sort of lost at this point.  "Well, now what?  Do we
> just go walking around, waiting to see if somebody does something
> bad?"  He then walks out of the alley he just landed in, and looks at the
> teeming weirdos that call New York City home...

"Pretty impressive trip there, Ken.  I'm going to call you 'Star-Man'
until you come up with something better.  Now that we're here, we can
start doing some good.  First things first, though.  I need to walk
around a bit to get my bearings.  It's been a few years since I've been
in this neighborhood and it's changed a bit.  If I'm not mistaken, we
should be able to spot some trouble if we look close enough.  This area
is riddled with drug-dealers and gangs.  Maybe if we're lucky, we can
take down the druggie's distribution networks."

Rebound shudders as he steps out of the alley and onto what passes for a
main street in this section of town.  It has been an awfully long time
since he has walked down these streets, but this time he's not fearing
for his life...

Rebound will take an hour or so to reacquaint himself with the lay of
the land and try to see who the dealers seem to be.

"Come on 'Star-Man',  let's see what we can see..."

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 05 May 1999 14:29:02 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

That G.I. Joe Guy said...

> "...come with us, just get on board or follow along!"

Masque almost looks touched by that speech but everyone soon realizes
that it wasn't the speech, he is rubbing his 'tummy'.

"Anyone want to go for some Tacos?"

> With that, the head Joe gets on the bus, following Ronin and being
> followed, in turn, by Flash.  Och then gets on board, as well.  "It's
> just a bus, Masque.  Don't look at me like that.  Besides, I know you're
> just dying to smash up these personifications of high technology..."

"Oh fine, I guess that's a resounding 'No'."

Masque reigns his horse into the air and looks down at Och,

"I'll follow, if it's all the same to you."

<Diggy Liggy Lo>

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 05 May 1999 13:25:49 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"By the way what is going on here, all of a sudden we are about to be assaulted by a bus.  By the way the name is 'Stone Cold' not Rock-man.  Who are you people?   And what is the meaning of driving this bus down the middle of the street like you are half-crazy, endangering peoples lives and all.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 05 May 1999 13:35:41 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"Well I have already been to the past, or some distance with you what is a
few robots among friends?  Maybe after all of this we could really get the
chance to know one another seeing as we have a long way back home."
Stone Cold ------(Still here.)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 05 May 1999 17:56:13 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx just runs into the bus, obviously impatient, trying to make sure
everyone gets inside or is out of the way of those people who need to
drive the thing.

"Right! National security, folks! We need to get moving! Less talk, more
action!" she babbles, doing her best to get things rolling.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 6 May 1999 06:52:00 -0600
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

>>Jinx just looks even more stupefied.
>>
>>"What the hell is this?! This is not some AA meeting! We're in the
>>middle of the street! We need to move our asses or I and whole lot of
>>other people are going to be in deep shit!"
>>
>>Then she realizes that Sil just mind spoke and stops, her face going
>>from exasperated to noticeably ticked off.

>>"Ack! Get out of my head! None of that telepathy shit around me, I've had
>>too much bad shit happen around me because of at least one
>>known Psi!" she exclaimed, her hand dropping to her gun, but not
>>unholstering it.

Silhouette gives her a dirty look, <<Well,  human, nobody shoots
you for shooting your mouth off. Not every species is equipped for
such a primitive form of communication, my dear child.>>

The little alien telepath decided to teach the human female a quick
lesson in manners, very quietly letting the womans own shadows
encase her , running over her until she was nothing but a walking
silhouette of herself... (89 to accomplish this, and use them to
keep her quiet.)

tbc...

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 6 May 1999 08:35:43 -0500
From:    "Andy Hicks" <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

*(I didn't get this the first time I sent it.)*

>"And we could really use the help.  If you don't want to, I understand,
>but a lot of people are going to die if you do not.  Just so you know
>exactly what's at stake here.  We're off, and any of you that want to
>come with us, just get on board or follow along!"

"Haven't I done enough fer you Joes already?" Hardcore mutters under his
breath as the others board the bus.  "Aaaaahhhh, what the hell.  At least I
can keep tabs on Jinx this way.  Yeah.  That's good..."

He heads back and hops into his van, ready to follow the Jacob to the scene.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 06 May 1999 11:28:13 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Silhouette gives her a dirty look, <<Well,  human, nobody shoots
> you for shooting your mouth off. Not every species is equipped for
> such a primative form of communication, my dear child.>>

> The little alien telepath decided to teach the human female a quick
> lesson in manners, very quietly letting the womans own shadows
> encase her , running over her until she was nothing but a walking
> silhouette of herself... (89 to accomplish this, and use them to
> keep her quiet.)

Masque audibly slaps his forehead,

"Hey there crazy-lady....not you Sil, the other one...My friend here has
a tendency to do that little thing there....and she doesn't even ask."

Subject: Re: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Thu, 06 May 1999 13:14:29 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Rebound will take an hour or so to reacquaint himself with the lay of
> the land and try to see who the dealers seem to be.

> "Come on 'Star-Man',  let's see what we can see..."

The two of you start wandering about the surly neighborhood, looking
around.  You're just getting your bearings, while Ken is soaking in the
sights, trying to look for some sign of trouble.  Of course, within a
few minutes, you find it.

Down a random back alley, you see several goons beating the crap out of
somebody, and without thinking, Ken wanders in.  "Hey!  Isn't seventeen
on one kinda unfair?"  Upon hearing this would-be hero speak up, the
assembled thugs all turn your direction... slowly.

"Yeah!  I'm talkin' to you, slackers!"  The seventeen tough guys, all
looking in their mid-twenties (save for a few teens, possible apprentice
goons) just stare in amazement; this sort of thing simply doesn't
happen.  One of them speaks up.

"Who wants to know, bucket head?"

"I am... Star-Man!"  You don't know about that, Rebound.  When he says
it, it's not all that convincing, and the worst part is you could hear
him wince when he said it.  You know, as if he were almost embarrased to
say it.

Then, as one, the thugs pull guns, and their ad-hoc leader says "Bu Bye,
Star-Man!"  Then they open fire, all seventeen of them emptying clips
from their automatic pistols into Ken.  They shoot, and they shoot, and
they shoot, and it's this horrible cacophony of thunder.

When the shooting stops, you look to see that he's still standing there,
and Ken laughs.  "Ha!  I'm *really* bullet proof!  Is that all you got,
pussies?!"  He then jumps into the crowd of ruffians, throwing punches
like they're going out of style.

Before you can join in the fun, however, you notice something odd amidst
the melee.  Below you, right in front of your feet, you see a manhole
cover lift up.  It's at an angle so that somebody can see what's going
on in the fight, so the person viewing doesn't know you're there.

What do you do?

Subject: RE: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Thu, 6 May 1999 14:38:43 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Before you can join in the fun, however, you notice something odd
> amidst the melee.  Below you, right in front of your feet, you see a manhole
> cover lift up.  It's at an angle so that somebody can see what's going
> on in the fight, so the person viewing doesn't know you're there.

Leaving Ken 'Star-Man' (Gotta remember to ask his last name) to mop up
the goons (since he seems to be enjoying it so much), Rebound carefully
and quietly places his right hand flat against the manhole cover and
waits a moment for full adhesion.  He then pulls the cover off and
reaches down with his left hand to grab the covert observer.(Init:10,
Rolls:84,51,70)

(Assuming Rebound manages to toss aside the manhole cover and pull the
observer out into the open...and the observer is a person, he holds on
to his prize and begins to interrogate the poor slob)

"It's not nice to spy on people.  Believe you me, I used to do it for a
living.  Now what are you doing here looking out that manhole?"

Rebound holds the observer nice and close as he spits out his questions
and implied threats, letting his bad temperament and paranoia flow freely.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 6 May 1999 17:54:03 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> The little alien telepath decided to teach the human female a quick
> lesson in manners, very quietly letting the womans own shadows
> encase her , running over her until she was nothing but a walking
> silhouette of herself... (89 to accomplish this, and use them to
> keep her quiet.)

Reaper eyebrows shoot up, as he slowly turns from watching what is happening to Jinx, and the woman on the bike behind him.

He shakes his head incredulously, folding his arms and smiling in amazement...

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 6 May 1999 19:51:58 -0600
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

Sil  popped a kiss onto Reaper's cheek, <<Believe it or not, I actually *like* most humans. But some of them... well, let's just say they bring out the worst in me. You, I do believe, are among the kind I like....>>

(tag)

She lightly poked the young Oriental man in the ribs, testing his "TQ" (Tickle Quotient) and then smiled at him, <<And you are cute.....>>

<tag reaper>

Silhouette then turned her attention back to the woman whom
she'd encased in her own darkness, <<Better put you back where
you came from, dear child.. you'll be lonely without your peers.>>

She then dropped the cantankerous female into the shadows,
leaving the impression on the observers that Jinx had just melted
into a puddle of shadows...and dumping her rather
unceremoniously  from the cieling of a familiar corridor.

(99 it don't get better than that :D even with that jinx power of hers...
theren's no bad way to read 'em apples)

Sil looked at the others, <<No, I didn't melt her. I just sent her
back where she wanted to be: nice and safe, at home--wherever
that is. Now, why don't the lot of us rather conspicuous indivduals
find someplace safer to conviene?>>

(taggers all)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 07 May 1999 01:19:11 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Sil looked at the others, <<No, I didn't melt her. I just sent her
> back where she wanted to be: nice and safe, at home--wherever
> that is. Now, why don't the lot of us rather conspicuous indivduals
> find someplace safer to conviene?>>

> (taggers all)

Well, the bus had started, and most of you that were getting on had, in
fact, done so, while the rest of you prepared to follow behind in whatever manner you chose; spectral horse from beyond, motorcycle of the Apocalypse, or beat up Dodge Ram.

However, the driver of the Jacob, the Joe's Covert Operations Bus, abruptly shuts the thing off.  Hawk, the leader of the Joe team, comes out and looks at you, Silhouette - and he doesn't look happy.  In fact, you don't need to be a telepath to read his thoughts...

"Cute, lady.  Real cute.  I hate to break this to you, but believe it or
not, Jinx there was the only person that knew where we were supposed to
be going.  For somebody claiming to be 'teaching her some manners', I
think you could learn some yourself."

"Flash!!!  Get this thing moving!  I only hope we can find where the
hell those robots went to before too many people die.  *Do it!!*"  The
bus then revs up, and Flash grinds the thing into overdrive, almost
running your motorcycle over, Reaper.

Good thing you moved in time.  You didn't think a bus could go that fast.

The Jacob peels around a nearby corner, taking a left to follow the last
heading the Joes saw those two Mutilator robots taking.  Desperately
hoping to save lives, Flash barrels clean through the light, smashing
two moving cars about like a child's toys!

He must be worried, indeed...  For those of you not on the bus (Masque,
Silhouette, Reaper, and Hardcore), follow at your leisure, I suppose.
Even if Hawk and the Joes have no clue where they're headed.  D'oh...!

                                   ***

It's funny how that happened, Jinx.  First, you were trying to get
everybody to the Direct Action Americans' N.Y.C. headquarters, so that
you could stop that bastard psi Roy Shijitzu's plan to destroy the
vigilante group.

Suddenly, you were surrounded by a vast blackness, the exact opposite of
that utter flash of white you experienced while on the Joes' bus moments
ago.  It lasted for about as long, from what you could tell, and when it
was gone, you weren't on the streets of Manhattan anymore.

In fact, you were right where you wanted to be:  the D.A.A.'s main base
of operations!  The only downside, however, is that you were alone, and
you could hear trouble breaking out around you like nobody's business.
Gunfire here, gunfire there.  Gunfire everywhere, in fact.

What do you do?

(ooc:  for reference, Jinx, the D.A.A. headquarters is a five story
affair, and from what you remember, you're on the second.  Of course,
the lights are out, and all you can see by is a dull orange light,
likely brought on by flames of some sort.)

(You seem to be in a vast array of office cubicles, about forty spread
out all around you.  Potted palms, small desks, and computery-type cover
abound.  Enjoy!)

Subject: Re: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Fri, 07 May 1999 01:36:24 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Rebound holds the observer nice and close as he spits out his
> questions and implied threats, letting his bad temperament and
> paranoia flow freely.

The man totally freaks out upon being so handled, kicking and screaming
in some incomprehensible tongue; you've been all over in your works for
the N.S.A., and you don't remember hearing any kind of language remotely
close to this, save for Yiddish.

Then you look at the 'man', and realize that, aside from his language,
he definitely is rather odd.  For one thing, he's wearing odd garments
for a sewer dweller, or for anybody else, having a sort of goopy black
texture to them.

Also, he's got stark pink skin; not causasian in nature, mind you, but
*pink*.  Like the crayon.  And his eyes, his eyes, his eyes.  They're a
solid black in hue, and quite intimidating.  As you can guess, this is
no mere thug, gang member, or drug dealer.

He utters a few more syllables of his strange tongue, and then his
outfit squirms around your hand, going liquid until you lose your grip.
He then descends straight down into that manhole at falling speed, but
you never hear him hit bottom.  You *do* hear him running off, though.

In the sewers.

By the time you look back up at Ken, he's stacked all thirteen of the
thugs in a neat pile; the other four found some brains and fled.  Of
course, so did the victim of their ire, so you don't know if you'll ever
figure out what that was all about.

But, Ken's now free, so what do you do?

Subject: RE: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Fri, 7 May 1999 10:18:16 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> But, Ken's now free, so what do you do?

"Um, Ken, did you just see that?  Call the X-files, we've got aliens on
our hands.  Come on!   This is not something to let get away."

Rebound drops down the hole using a line to break his fall and not hit
the bottom so roughly and begins to pursue the alien invader. (41)  He
does not wait for Ken figuring that Ken can catch up in a heartbeat
anyway.  When he reaches bottom, Rebound does a quick search to try and
determine which way the alien went and takes off after him at top speed,
or what passes for it in a sewer.

"Now, the last time I was in a sewer like this..."

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 7 May 1999 15:58:22 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

--- Lady Arakne <araknesweb@darkspiral.com> wrote:

> You, I do believe, are among the kind I like....>>

Reaper's eyes widen, and his face lights up and flushes simultaneously...his expression quickly changes to a broad grin...

> She lightly poked the young Oriental man in the ribs, testing his
> "TQ" (Tickle Quotient) and then smiled at him, <<And you are cute.....>>

He barks a quick laugh - squirming around.  His eyes dance playfully as he looks at her, but as he notices her begin to look past him, he follows her stare back towards the woman called Jinx...

* (snip savage teleportation of Jinx)
* 
Once again, Reaper responds with the intellectual "Whoa.."

OOC:

Just to be clear - its the "Intellectual" - "Whoa", not to be confused with the Keanu Reeves trademark "Whoa"...

I have no idea what an intellectual "Whoa" sounds like, I just suddenly had a flashback to Lawrence Fishburne jumping between buildings...and wanted to be clear...

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 07 May 1999 20:29:41 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> He barks a quick laugh - squirming around.  His eyes dance
> playfully as he looks at her, but as he notices her begin
> to look past him, he follows her stare back towards the
> woman called Jinx...

You hear another audible slap and as you look up to see Masque's hand
fall form his forehead he yells....

"Jiminy, why don't you two get a room...."

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 7 May 1999 23:16:54 -0600
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

> You hear another audible slap and as you look up to see Masque's hand
> fall form his forehead he yells....

"Jiminy, why don't you two get a room...."

Sil looked at the mage of questionable sanity, <<And your Implication being that you are envious that no one of the opposite gender is affording YOU any attention?  Why don't you turn your horse into a female companion?>>

(tag)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sat, 08 May 1999 00:30:34 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx blinks. A lot.

Then curses. A lot.

"ARGH! FUCK FUCK FUCK! What the hell?!" she hollers looking about the
hallway, obviously confused as all hell.

She quickly regains her composure and pulls her field in again,
concentrating as best she could in the circumstances.

"OK. Now what. Think Jinx. Think. OK, go to where the shooting is and
make it stop. Yeah. I'm good at that. Right."

With that, she snuck down the hall, moving as quickly as she could
without being easily spotted, hoping her field would help hide her
presence.

[9 Initiative, 94, 74, 34, 57, 45 for any necessary rolls.]

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sat, 08 May 1999 13:26:08 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Sil looked at the mage of questionable sanity, <<And your
> implication being that you are envious that no one of the opposite
> gender is affording YOU any attention?  Why don't you turn your
> horse into a female companion?>>

Either Masque is having an epileptic attack or...no, wait...he is just
laughing uncontrollably, so much so that he falls off his horse, rolls
around laughing for a second, and then a second more. And as suddenly as
he started, he stops. Brushes himself off and sends his horse away.

"But you're an Alien, what if you two have ducks?"

And then he actually steps on the bus, snickering a little.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sun, 09 May 1999 15:53:30 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> And then he actually steps on the bus, snickering a little.

You get on the bus, Masque, just as the head Joe orders it to peel out.
It's a freaky wild ride as the thing tears through downtown Manhattan at
speeds a bus simply shouldn't - at least, in Manhattan.  Of course, the
trip ends as soon as it began, for even you can see the fires.

You pull up to this five story building, marked as some sort of law firm
or another, and see the gigantic hole in the roof, with flames spewing
forth from it.  As the lot of you disembark from the bus, automatic
gunfire erupts from the building's windows.

Broken glass and ammo casings rain down on people watching the event
from the sidewalks, forcing them to flee in panic.  That, and the rounds
bouncing off the Jacob's armor plating has caused the norms to stampede
away as soon as they can.

With that, the three Joes hop out of the bus while using it for cover,
and take stock of what's happening.  Grunt leans around the corner to
fire a seemingly random burst of M-16 rounds at the building, which is
answered by a hail of gunfire that barely misses him.

He looks at the rest of you as you disembark, and says "There's at least
seven of them, two on the second and fifth floor, and three on level
four.  When you hit 'em, aim for the broken windows right off - that's
your safest bet."

As you get off the bus, Ronin, Stone Cold, Masque, you hear several
intense explosions coming from inside the building.  You can see
Hardcore and (if they followed) Reaper and Silhouette pulling up behind
the bus, but keeping a safe distance, so as not to become easy targets.

Not yet.

Hawk looks at you, Ronin, and you, Hardcore, as you run up towards the
cover offered by the Jacob.  "Okay.  I know what you two are capable of,
so I want you two to come in with me so we can flush these goons out.
Flash, Grunt, you two can offer cover fire so's we can get in."

"If there's anything nifty the two of you can do", he offers to you,
Masque, Stone Cold, and Tammy, "Go ahead and spill it.  If you're more
for ranged combat, cover us as we run in, and if you're best at hand to
hand, come with us."

(response space from either of the two of you)

Och then offers his services to Hawk.  "Sir.  Myself, I'm more of a hand
to hand individual, as I lack any special 'abilities' that may be of
note, other than impressive night vision.  However, I do have this..."
Och then pulls out his golden, magical axe.

You see the thing, Ronin, and can't help but marvel at the handiwork and
craftmanship that went into its creation.  It's a gold, one-bladed hand
axe, apparently forged from gold and inlaid with all sorts of intricate
carvings, mostly of arcane runes.

But the short little man (who, incidentally, is dressed like Indiana
Jones, and resembles him save for the beard and height) seems to think
it is useful for combat, so you get the impression that it is...
special... like your own Thunder Cutter.

Hawk looks at the diminutive extraplanar being, and nods.  "Right.
Anyone else?"  (A quick note, here:  if you did follow the Jacob on your
bike, Reaper, as I haven't heard from you yet, now'd be a good time to
say anything if'n you wanted to...)

(?)

(Furthermore, I supppose that now'd be a good time to send in your
likely actions once the assault on the D.A.A. building begins, as well
as any rolls you might want to make in advance. That way, we can see
just how well this mass combat'll work, eh?  =)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sun, 09 May 1999 22:09:48 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>Hawk looks at you, Ronin, and you, Hardcore, as you run up towards the
>cover offered by the Jacob.  "Okay.  I know what you two are capable of, so
>I want you two to come in with me so we can flush these goons out.  Flash,
>Grunt, you two can offer cover fire so's we >can get in."

Ronin nods in agreement, "As you wish, Hawk-sama."

>"If there's anything nifty the two of you can do", he offers to you,
>Masque, Stone Cold, and Tammy, "Go ahead and spill it.  If you're more for
>ranged combat, cover us as we run in, and if you're best at hand to hand,
>come with us."

>Och then offers his services to Hawk.  "Sir.  Myself, I'm more of a hand to
>hand individual, as I lack any special 'abilities' that may be of note,
>other than impressive night vision.  However, I do have >this..."

>Och then pulls out his golden, magical axe.

>You see the thing, Ronin, and can't help but marvel at the handiwork and
>craftmanship that went into its creation.  It's a gold, one-bladed hand
>axe, apparently forged from gold and inlaid with all sorts of intricate
>carvings, mostly of arcane runes.

Ronin does a double take at the impressive weapon that Och whips out.

OOC - Hmm...that pose just -didn't- sound right somehow... :P

>But the short little man (who, incidentally, is dressed like Indiana
>Jones, and resembles him save for the beard and height) seems to think it
>is useful for combat, so you get the impression that it is... special...
>like your own Thunder Cutter.

Ronin turns to the midget.  "An excellent weapon, Short One.  Of superior
design, even despite its gaijin craftsmanship.  I did not know that such a
calibre of weapon was crafted in your land....as impressive as my blade,
even with its overstated appearance."

>(Furthermore, I supppose that now'd be a good time to send in your
>likely actions once the assault on the D.A.A. building begins, as well as
>any rolls you might want to make in advance. That way, we can see just how
>well this mass combat'll work, eh?  =)

Ronin will follow the team in.  He'll take a secure position where he can
get a quick once over of his immediate area.  If there  are any hostiles
present, he'll go in like a ginsu and hack'n'slash them.

Rolls: 8 init; 83 dodge; 68 for int; 72 & 32 for attacks as needed

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sun, 9 May 1999 23:00:10 -0500
From:   "Andy Hicks" <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>Hawk looks at you, Ronin, and you, Hardcore, as you run up towards the
>cover offered by the Jacob.  "Okay.  I know what you two are capable of,
>so I want you two to come in with me so we can flush these goons out.
>Flash, Grunt, you two can offer cover fire so's we can get in."

"If by 'flush out', you mean 'take out'," Hardcore shouts over the gunfire,
"then it sounds like you got a plan!  Cuz I'll just tell ya right now, I
ain't gonna be fuckin' around in there with my ass on the line!"

>(stuff removed)

As they prepare to rush the D.A.A. HQ, Hardcore turns to his most familiar
ally, Ronin, wondering aloud, "Where the hell is Jinx!?!?  This is supposed
to be her goddam show, and now we're gettin' fired on and she's nowhere to
be found!  I guess that chick IS bad news after all!"

Hardcore pulls his canes, and is ready to go.  Considering his sore leg and
lack of inclination to get shot (again) over this situation, he'll make sure
to stay near the back of the group making their way inside.

(Rolls:  Initiative:  3+3=6.  Extra Dodges: 87.  Extra Attacks:  87.  Attack
1:  15 to hit, 77 for damage.  Attack 2:  33 & 55.  Dodges:  36, 83, 55.)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 09:55:13 PDT
From:   "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

having reverted to stone form I run into the building attacking visible
targets with ice shards (roll 78).  And wait for the rest of the group to
enter.

Subject: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 12:56:28 -0500
From:   Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

(repost, in case I'm not the only one that didn't get this)

William Lockwood wrote:

> Jinx blinks. A lot.

> Then curses. A lot.

> "ARGH! FUCK FUCK FUCK! What the hell?!" she hollers looking about the
> hallway, obviously confused as all hell.

> She quickly regains her composure and pulls her field in again,
> concentrating as best she could in the circumstances.

> "OK. Now what. Think Jinx. Think. OK, go to where the shooting is and
> make it stop. Yeah. I'm good at that. Right."

> With that, she snuck down the hall, moving as quickly as she could
> without being easily spotted, hoping her field would help hide her
> presence.

> [9 Initiative, 94, 74, 34, 57, 45 for any necessary rolls.]

(Just for the record, man.  If you want to make your rolls and stuff in
advance, that's fine, but i *need* you to gimme some idea what goes
where... otherwise, I'll just have to decide that for you.  And you
might not like that...)

It was a nice idea, really, but you nonetheless got yourself spotted by
some goons wearing night vision goggles.  "Ha!  Got one!"  Automatic
gunfire then rippled across your force field, though it was ultimately
repelled by it.

A second voice says "Aha... this is the one our Boss wanted hung on a
pike.  You guys cover the front, in case anybody comes investigating
this, and me and Pete'll take care of the bimbo."  Suddenly, you hear an
odd sound, some sort of 'wum-wum-wum' coming from where the gunfire did.

You shoot off in the general vicinity of where you think the goons ought
to be, and you actually hit one, despite not being able to see them yet
- thanks to the smoke. "Aargh!  My leg!"  One of the goons falls into
vision, and the second stoops over him.  "Bitch!"

You now see what the 'wum-wum-wum' sound is coming from:  the man still
standing is wielding some sort of... energy blade.  It looks like a
normal, twelve inch blade, but it keeps fading in and out of vision, as
if it weren't real... or were vibrating like mad.

"So, finally, I get a worthy target.  For years, they've been giving ol'
Proctology Pete the lousy contracts, but now I get to fight Jinx, the
famous mutant merc.  Sweet..."  The man twirls his strange blade around
in his hand, anticipating the right time to attack.

You train your guns to fire on him again, but he deftly moves out of the
way of your cannon fire, and slices out at you with his ultra-deadly
weapon, cutting through your force field as if it weren't even there!
You take Remarkable (34) Armor Piercing Edged Attack damage, Jinx.

He grins at you.  "Surprised?  Don't be... I've used this thing to cut
through tanks.  It took a bit, to be sure, but Hell, it works.  Ha ha
ha!"  Just then, a relaxed voice calls out from the shadows.  "So, why
do they call you Proctology Pete, anyway?"

Proctology Pete preens with pride.  "Well, you see, that's because I
always kick my targets' asses so hard that, well, they need to see a..."
Pete then stops, suddenly realizing that he's talking to somebody he
can't see, and it's not one of his fellows.  "Oh, crap."

He looks around nervously, and seems even more agitated when his night
vision goggles don't seem to warn him of anything in his vicinity.
"Ooh, an invisible man!  Even better!!  Bring it on, the both of you!"
Of course, you recognize that voice, Jinx.

It's got this slight digital twang to it, as if the man were speaking
through an electronic scrambler, one that masked his true voice... enough.
It's a new turn, what do you do?

Subject: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 13:03:35 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

(repost since neither I or Douglas seems to have gotten this back)

Douglas Lohse wrote:

> "Um, Ken, did you just see that?  Call the X-files, we've got aliens
> on our hands.  Come on!   This is not something to let get away."

> Rebound drops down the hole using a line to break his fall and not hit
> the bottom so roughly and begins to pursue the alien invader. (41)  He
> does not wait for Ken figuring that Ken can catch up in a heartbeat
> anyway.  When he reaches bottom, Rebound does a quick search to try
> and determine which way the alien went and takes off after him at top
> speed, or what passes for it in a sewer.

> "Now, the last time I was in a sewer like this..."

You run through the pitch black chambers for a time, using nothing but a
mini-flashlight for illumination, and you sense that you're slowly
catching up to your little friend in the sewers here suddenly you hear a
grunt of anger, and the sounds of a bodily collision.

"Oy!  Watch, it, you little bugger!"  A string of goofy, unknowable
syllables follows, at which point you hear the wet slap of a punch,
followed by the splash of a body hitting the water.  More sloshing would
indicate that the 'alien' is fleeing the people he just encountered.

"Har har har!", says the voice in a rough Australian accent.  "That goof
ball just bounced off me arm!"  Another voice, speaking without accent
in a tone of voice that has a slightly digital echo to it, says "Well
done, Torch.  Now, help the others dig through this tunnel."

"I'll look out for any other people wandering these tunnels."

You then hear the sounds of metal instruments, including a chain saw,
working on cement... a lot.  Another voice, this one a more surly Aussie
accent, says "What are we doing here again, Zartan?  You gonna rob this
girlie friend of yours?"

"No, Buzzer, just returning a favor.  Jinx made me more money than I
thought she would, and since I know a mercenary contract's been given on
this building, I thought I would make sure she got out okay.  After all,
she may be good for business later, eh?"

Then, a third voice hoots out "Har!  You're sweet on the gel, aren't ya?
Aren't --"  The final Australian goon suddenly stops speaking, leaving
one of those pregnant silences that you can imagine had been suddenly
filled with a gun to the face.

"Oh, roight, roight.  Of course not, of course not.  Silly me!  Here,
I'll just help Buzzer tunnel through this wall, then, eh?"  The sounds
of destruction continue, when suddenly a massive rumbling sound comes
from above.  "That would be it, my Dreadnoks.  Now hurry!"

More rumbling ensues, and you finally see the band before you, as they
have their own light source.  One's a blonde guy with a pony tail and
coke bottle glasses, making a makeshift tunnel with his chainsaw.  A
second is a man with a flamethrower strapped to his back.

This bearded biker is currently using a pickaxe to help tunnel, along
with a third fellow, a man with black mohawk who's chipping away at the
cement with some sort of bizarro implement of destruction.  The leader
of these men is something of a quandary.

He's got a cowl over his head, covering his hair, and you see that he
has some sort of mask painted over his face, and partial kevlar armor
covering his torso.  He's got a gun strapped to his leg, as well as a
longbow on his back, and he's watching the tunneling intently.

Just then, Ken blunders into your back, saying "Oomph" much more loudly
than you'd have liked.  The leader of this bunch, apparently the man
known as Zartan, looks right at the two of you.  "Hm... it would appear
that these tunnels are more heavily traveled than I thought."

Just then, the Dreaknoks break through the wall of the tunnel, the sound
of collapsing concrete wall heralding their whoop of success.  The three
Aussies make their way into whatever structure they were busy breaking
into, and Zartan smiles at you two.

"Taa taa!  Must be going!"  He then dashes for the hole, leaving you and
Ken sitting there.  Ken looks at you, which is kind of tricky in the
ultra-dim light, and says "What was all that about?"  Just then, the
sounds of machine gun fire erupt from the hole.  A *lot*.

Do you follow your alien or check out the mayhem within the hole?

Subject: [v13] Things Better Left Untouched...
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 13:10:20 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

He was defeated.

He'd been working on his plan for dozens of years, and he'd finally
finished his greatest creation:  the Stellar Key, a device he could use
to rend time and space in any way he saw fit.  But Ahom, that tricky
damned devil, sent his minions to steal it from him.

He didn't understand, as he'd not told anybody about his creation, and
he was sure that even the right hand of Scalara couldn't scry into his
secret laboratories.  But just as he discovered the thieves, there was a
brilliant flash of white light, and when it subsided, they were gone.

Immediately after, Ahom and his cronies attacked his citadel and all
within.  Even Iomni, his former paramour, had joined with Ahom to attack
and destroy his grand plans.  Despite his might, and being in the seat
of his power, Morbis simply couldn't win against his nemesis.

The techonmage fell, fighting to the bitter end, vowing to return to
destroy Ahom, Iomni, and all that opposed him in the future.  However,
Morbis didn't anticipate Ahom stealing his Staff of Foes, as well as his
vast bank of enchanted nanorobots, so it took awhile to recover.

For eon after eon, Morbis watched, a disembodied essence, as Ahom and
his foolish allies restored the earth to it's pristine, pre-human state,
erasing every last trace of the Granx't and Varakni civilizations.
Humans then emerged anew, slowly rebuilding their society.

It had taken an eternity, or so it had seemed, as Morbis watched his
beloved technology evolve anew.  He hated his current state, but he was
nonetheless able to mold the minds of several receptive men and women,
those who worshipped technology as intensely as he did.

He'd shaped several of them into a society, the Electronicists' League,
and they were growing closer and closer to inadvertently creating the
technology that would allow him to return at long last.  But then *it*
had happened.

One of the Electronicists, by the name of Old Gruff, had produced a
device that would impart powers similar to those that his own Stellar
Key could - that and so much more.  However, some bumbling fool had
interfered with Gruff's plans, and the device exploded.

It caused a space-time collapse, and Morbis instantly recognized the
effect as that which had stolen his Key and its thieves through time.
Getting an inkling of hope, Morbis sought out the energies of the Key
and, when reality restored itself, he found it.

It and its two thieves had emerged into their own time, amidst a city
that would do the almost extinct Varakni proud!  Seeing the Key, Morbis
accessed its powers with his mind, though its thieves were unaware that
he was doing such, and he summoned one of his nanorobots through time.

Just one.

Ahom surely wouldn't notice this slight manipulation, and besides, the
fool couldn't possibly follow it through time to the present.  As such,
one of Morbis' nanorobots emerged in the present, microseconds before it
was consigned to destruction at Ahom's hands.

It then dropped off the Key, and made for a quiet spot where it could do
its work.  Finding an abandoned chamber in the vast sewers underneath
this city, this New York City, the lone nanorobot began its work,
building a small army of itself.

These enchanted, microscopic robots then built a powerful cloning unit
within the sewers, and within an hour of the nanobot's arrival in the
present, Morbis was born anew!  Though still weak, the technomage knew
what he wanted to do - nay, what he had to do.

He had to eliminate Ahom and anyone foolish enough to follow him!

To that end, he looked in on the work of a lone Varakni that had left
his ancient city in Antarctica on Morbis' subconscious urgings, and had
been working to alter the earth's climate over these last few months.
This fool would come in handy, for he would force Ahom's hand.

After all, the new Ice Age that this unwitting minion was attempting to
usher in was identical in effect to that which Ahom himself instigated
so many eons ago, and anyone that served the hated mage would surely
find their way to him eventually.

Then he would strike!  First, Ahom's minions would fall, and then the
foolish old proponent of universal Balance would fall as well.  He
wouldn't know what hit him.  Then the world would dance to his orderly
little tune, the technological tune of Morbis...!

Subject: [v13] Things Better Left Untouched...
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 13:15:08 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

The portal had gone somewhat awry.

Brimskull, one of the most powerful of the Kedae nobles, nonetheless
counted himself lucky that he had escaped the annihilation of Tamrent,
his home plane.  That fool Lord Keda had brought a nascent deity into
his stronghold, and his minions had failed to turn him.

In fact, they'd made him so mad that he went berzerk, reveling in his
newfound power, and wiped every trace of the demonic Kedae - nay,
everything at all - from existence.  Only the creation of a timely
portal had saved his existence.

Nothing else he knew of survived, however, even that lovely creation of
his, that former Normalcy Squad warrior maiden that he'd twisted and
warped, body and soul, until she was a weapon capable of disposing of
Lord Keda for him.

She may've survived the exit out of Tamrent, but she definitely didn't
show up with him.  As such, he decided to look around to see if she'd
emerged nearby, scouting out the entire planetary system.  Luckily, he'd
fed well in the last several eons, and could survive for some time here.

He flew about, and noted that of the nine planets in this system, only
the third was hosting sentient life - at least, naturally; he noted an
outpost on the last planet that seemed to be watching the third intently
- he would investigate that later.

Approaching this third planet, apparently the earth from which his
'daughter' had come from, Brimskull saw a craft passing the world, one
filled with magical energies of a dark type, and decided to follow it.
After all, a quick snack couldn't hurt.

The ship, which seemed like nothing so much as a long, rectangular metal
tube, seemed to sense his approach, and rocketed away towards the sun.
Following, he caught up to it seventy million miles later, and assaulted
it with his dread magics.

The beings within returned his assault, and soon the war was on.
Brimskull recognized the magical energies used against him as the power
of faith, a priestly magic that rang with the essence of a god known as
Aagh to those within the odd craft.

Not liking this, as the energies annoyed his physical frame, Brimskull
simply teleported into the ship to battle these creatures hand to hand.
Upon his materialization within the craft, Brimskull found he liked the
form of these creatures.

They seemed to be all mouth, save for eight large tentacles that
surrounded the gaping, jagged tooth-filled maw.  One instinctively tried
to eat him, disgorging its digestive organs around him and sucking him
into itself in one fluid culinary move.

This was a severe mistake, however, as Brimskull's head was ablaze with
mystic hellfire, and the creature's digestive juices reacted with it,
causing it to explode - violently!  This explosion created a vast rip in
the side of the craft.

This, in turn, caused an explosive decompression that blasted the ship
off-course, and it went veering straight into the sun.  Hopping off just
in time, the demonic Brimskull flew away and watched the craft of the
odd creatures melt in the sun's plasma.

A vast cloud of solar matter then erupted from the sun, charged with the
magical energies that the items within the ship held until the sun had
melted them down.  As it left the sun proper, the plasma began to take
shape, morphing to somewhat resemble Brimskull's humanoid form.

Brimskull looked at the new creature, a ball of plasmic solar energy
that the crashing ship had inadvertently created, and smiled.  Oh, sure,
he was *always* smiling, but you could tell, despite the fact that he
had no facial flesh to hint otherwise, that he was extremely happy.

He had a new 'child' to mold, one possess of raw energies that even he
was hard-pressed to control.  That was, of course, if this new being was
at all suggestible.  Brimskull, one of the last of the Kedae, reached
out with his mind to probe the plasmic blob for intelligence.

He found an inherently curious soul within the roiling solar energies,
and found that it was willing to listen to him.  Claiming to be its
creator, Brimskull managed to get the being, which he dubbed Lord
Solarr, to do his bidding.  Unconditionally.

The two wandered towards the earth, a world they never made, to forge
their fortune...

Subject: RE: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 14:23:58 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Do you follow your alien or check out the mayhem within the hole?

"Aussie or Alien....Aussie or Alien...Well, at least I can understand
the Aussies.   Come on, Ken, something big is going down, and it's up to
us to put a stop to it."

Rebound leaps through the hole with the usual concern for his safety
(i.e. not a whole lot) and tries to get a quick assessment of the
situation inside.  If he can figure out who the bad guys are, he'll try
to nail them, if not...everyone's fair game.  He'll hold back and try to
keep from hurting anyone too badly.

(Rolls: Init:10+1=11 Other: 65, 37, 99, 91, 34, 04)

Subject: Re: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 19:20:37 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

(again, this doesn't seem to have gotten through, so I'm reposting it.
If you all get the same problems (i.e., don't see a post within six
hours of sending it, etc...) feel free to repost - i do!)  heh heh heh

Douglas Lohse wrote:

> "Aussie or Alien....Aussie or Alien...Well, at least I can understand
> the Aussies.   Come on, Ken, something big is going down, and it's up
> to us to put a stop to it."

> Rebound leaps through the hole with the usual concern for his safety
> (i.e. not a whole lot) and tries to get a quick assessment of the
> situation inside.  If he can figure out who the bad guys are, he'll
> try to nail them, if not...everyone's fair game.  He'll hold back and
> try to keep from hurting anyone too badly.

> (Rolls: Init:10+1=11 Other: 65, 37, 99, 91, 34, 04)

You hop into the fray, only to realize that there isn't one that you can
see - yet, anyway.  Those four fellows that made their own door are
looking around, as if to spy a good target for their general ire, and
don't see one.

You hear gunshots all around, as if they were coming from upstairs, and
through the walls.  Or, rather, the sound was carrying through the air
ducts lining the edge of this boiler room.  Before you can do anything,
though, the scenery abruptly... pauses, for a lack of a better word.

You and Ken notice that the four men before you have stopped cold in
their tracks.  Even the steam billowing about in the room isn't moving.
Suddenly, a voice behind the two of you makes an abrupt *ahem* sound.
You turn to see a woman behind you, holding an electronic slate.

She's armed, but isn't currently wielding such.  The woman holds her
slate up, and reads from it like it were a traffic violation.  "Okay, so
you're Ken Connell, and you, you're this Rebound fellow, right?"  Before
you can ask who she is or how she knows you, she continues.

"The two of you are guilty of temporal theft.  How do you plead?"  Ken
blurts out "I don't plead anything!  We're not thieves of any variety,
much less of temporals!  I don't even know what a temporal is!  Besides,
who the heck are you?  You got a badge, missy?"

The armored woman smiles.  "Lieutenant Syde.  Temporal Management."  She
shows you a badge.  It looks impressive enough.  "Now, since you deny
your crime, I'll demonstrate the proof the Management has accumulated,
and we'll then talk about your future."

Her slate, some sort of electronic device, produces a two-dimensional
hologram to the left of you both.  It shows you outside that bar a day
ago, and when Ken picks you up and flies off, you can see what happened
- the both of you faded into a sort of white blur."

She 'rewinds' the image, to just over a day in the past, and focuses in
on Ken's apartment.  You see the exact opposite occur, as the two of you
emerge into the universe in a white blur of power.  Now you know why you
couldn't breathe, Rebound - you flew through time!!

"Now, since you see that we know what you two did, what should we do
about you, hmm??"  Ken looks downright astonished.  "I... I... I didn't
even know I could do that.  Fly, sure, but *through time*?  Oy..."  He
sits down, still reeling from the enormity of it all.

"And what do you have to say about all this, mister?"  She's looking at
you, now, Rebound.  "Is this true?  You not know your friend here can,
in fact, access the time stream?  Hmm??"  She pauses to hear your
testimony to the fact...

(?)

Subject: [Fwd: [v13] Convergence!]
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 20:04:35 -0500
From:    Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

(My mail seems to be screwy also... so here is my last post ...again)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 05:17:01 -0500
From:    Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

> Ronin will follow the team in.  He'll take a secure position where he can
> get a quick once over of his immediate area.  If there  are any hostiles
> present, he'll go in like a ginsu and hack'n'slash them.

"Ahem!"

Masque says...loudly.

"I can go in and tell you where they are. I have this neat little trick
that I can do. It made Shirley Maclaine famous....If you wouldn't mind
keeping an eye on my body, I won't be a moment?"

(This is called 'response area')

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 10 May 1999 20:48:41 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

[Oops, sorry for the lack of detail! Here is the appropriate info for
this post: 5 Initiative, 90 + 5 Karma for a 95 to Dodge, 76 + 10 for 86
on the first to Hit and 90 on Damage, 65 + 25 Karma for the second to
Hit and 53 on Damage. 44 to Dodge any leftover attacks.]

Jinx shrieks as the blade gouges deep into her flesh, amazed that the
blade passed through her probability field without even slowing down.

"Ow! Jeez! You're definitely on my list, buck-o! And _you're_ the one
that's going to need his ass examined! Oh wait! You already know
everything about it seeing as you have your head stuck so deep in it!"
she screams.

As she repositions herself after receiving such a nasty wound, she
notices the voice as well, and grumbles to herself, "Damnit! Why does
everyone think I need help! And why the hell is it _him_?!"

Then she realizes her opponent is distracted looking for the newcomer,
she lets loose with both mag-cannons, aiming for each of his hands, not
knowing whether this guy is ambidextrous or not.

Subject: RE: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Tue, 11 May 1999 08:45:45 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "And what do you have to say about all this, mister?"  She's looking at
> you, now, Rebound.  "Is this true?  You not know your friend here can,
> in fact, access the time stream?  Hmm??"  She pauses to hear your
> testimony to the fact...

"OK, first of all, Lieutenant Syde, I have no idea what you are talking
about.  Ken is simply the victim of an accident.  He got zapped by some
mad scientist's god-making ray and got this nifty tattoo.  Neither he
nor I have stolen anything.  As for time-traveling, we all know that it
just cannot be done.  So you obviously are an impostor.  As such, I'm
giving you to the count of five to explain who you really are and what
it is you want.  There's a lot of strange stuff going on around here and..."

Rebound stops in mid-sentence and stares as he suddenly realizes that
everything has stopped moving.  Shrugging his shoulders, Rebound tries
to think of another way out of this.

"Look lady, time travel you say...wow...Ken you one powerful sonavabitch.  I don't know what to say other than sorry, we had no idea
and we'll try not to do it again."

Rebound suddenly become angry again...He takes several steps towards the
woman and stares right into her eyes, face to face...

"Just what the hell are we accused of stealing anyway!?!!?"

Subject: Re: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Tue, 11 May 1999 13:10:43 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "Just what the hell are we accused of stealing anyway!?!!?"

She smiles.  "A day.  You are currently coexisting with yourself.  In
fact..."  She pushes a button or three on her electronic slate, and
suddenly, the background goes slightly transparent - but it resumes its
temporal course.

Then, there's a white flash of light, blanking everything out for
approximately thirty seconds.  You think, anyway.  Then the light is
gone, and you can't help but remember the same flash you were exposed to
yesterday - the one caused by Gruff's goofy machinery.

"There, all done."  You see those fellows stalking off into the building
ahead, though the background is still a little wavery.  "Don't worry,
Rebound, I'm not going to do anything to you or your stupefied friend.
I just wanted to make sure that this Brand of his didn't cause trouble."

"You know, by interacting with itself."

"That's why I forced you out of time, here.  Within about half an hour,
you'll have gone to yesterday, so the possibility of you mucking things
up for the timeline are minimal.  I'll be off, now, but before I go,
here's a friendly reminder:  be careful when time traveling."

She waits to see if you respond, and then blips off to... wherever.
Just then, the world around you and Ken totally returns to normal, and
you're in a hot, steamy boiler room.  Ken just looks at you and says
"...Yeah..."

Leaving the boiler room, you immediately find those three thugs, hiding
behind the cover of a bar, as several angry looking fellows fire
automatic machine guns at them.  Oddly enough, the biker types you
followed in don't seem to have guns - but they *do* have grenades.

You can see that the thugs (sans their leader) are about to make this
quite an explosive situation, Rebound.  Do you deal with them or their
heavily armed opponents?  Or just duck behind something and let the body
parts settle where they may??

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 11 May 1999 14:08:43 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Then she realizes her opponent is distracted looking for the newcomer,
> she lets loose with both mag-cannons, aiming for each of his hands,
> not knowing whether this guy is ambidexterous or not.

You open fire on the poor man.

Guns a'blazing, you blow his arms clean off, sending them flailing
across the office space you and he are currently occupying.  He hits the
ground, a wet, pulpy sound emanating from under him as he hits hard.
And then he laughs at you.

"Ha ha ha!  Stupid girl!  You think I need arms to kill you?"  He does a
sort of inverted back-flip and is up on his feet, and you notice he's not
bleeding anymore.  He kicks around his vibro-blade with his feet, and
shrugs - impressive for a body without arms.

"Well... maybe I *do*."  With that, his body starts making this slorping
sound, and suddenly, arms spring forth from his empty sockets, all
bloody and gooey and new.  He picks up the knife.  "A'right, ya dumb
blonde, let's go!"

He circles around you, looking quite mad all of a sudden, and even
starts his own announcing.  "That's right, boys and girls, Proctology
Pete, survivor of 123 armed bar brawls, is at it again, this time,
against a heavily armed opponent.  Can he do it?"

He sounds like that fellow from the Wide World of Sports, and while you
puzzle that one out, he lunges at you, not once, but twice!  The first
one misses, but the second jab gives you a nasty lance to the shoulder,
delivering Good (10) Edged Attack damage to you.

"Ooh, he does it again!  Can Jinx pull herself out of this slump, or is
the end for the silly blonde girl?"

(?)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 11 May 1999 18:00:38 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx blinks. A lot.

Then thinks to herself, ~Head shot!~

And lets loose on full auto with both guns, one aimed at the upper
torso, and the other at his head!

As soon as she takes her shots, she dives behind the nearest desk,
attempting to spot an accessible fire extinguisher (hopefully one of
those nice super-cool chemical ones). If she can spot one, she'll try to
do a nice acrobatic flip past the mess and snag the fire extinguisher.
If she has time, she'll try to spray the open wounds of Pete with the
contents of the extinguisher.

[8 Initiative, 83 to Hit, 62 Damage, 79 to Hit, 60 Damage, 70 Dodge, 81
Dodge, 93 to Scout out the surroundings, 70 to Snag the Extinguisher,
and if you allow it, 94 to Spray the bastard with the stuff!]

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 12 May 1999 13:20:48 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

Aie said something to the effect of:

>> Hawk looks at you, Ronin, and you, Hardcore, as you run up towards
>> the cover offered by the Jacob.  "Okay.  I know what you two are
>> capable of, so I want you two to come in with me so we can flush
>> these goons out.  Flash, Grunt, you two can offer cover fire so's we
>> can get in."

Peter Chamers wrote:

> Ronin turns to the midget.  "An excellent weapon, Short One.  Of
> superior design, even despite its gaijin craftsmanship.  I did not
> know that such a calibre of weapon was crafted in your land....as
> impressive as my blade, even with its overstated appearance."

> Ronin will follow the team in.  He'll take a secure position where he
> can get a quick once over of his immediate area.  If there  are any
> hostiles present, he'll go in like a ginsu and hack'n'slash them.

> Rolls: 8 init; 83 dodge; 68 for int; 72 & 32 for attacks as needed

Andy Hicks wrote:

> "If by 'flush out', you mean 'take out'," Hardcore shouts over the
> gunfire, "then it sounds like you got a plan!  Cuz I'll just tell ya
> right now, I ain't gonna be fuckin' around in there with my ass on the
> line!"

>> (stuff removed)

> As they prepare to rush the D.A.A. HQ, Hardcore turns to his most
> familiar ally, Ronin, wondering aloud, "Where the hell is Jinx!?!?
> This is supposed to be her goddam show, and now we're gettin' fired on
> and she's nowhere to be found!  I guess that chick IS bad news after
> all!"

> Hardcore pulls his canes, and is ready to go.  Considering his sore
> leg and lack of inclination to get shot (again) over this situation,
> he'll make sure to stay near the back of the group making their way
> inside.

> (Rolls:  Initiative:  3+3=6.  Extra Dodges: 87.  Extra Attacks:  87.
> Attack 1:  15 to hit, 77 for damage.  Attack 2:  33 & 55.  Dodges:
> 36, 83, 55.)

Charlie Clay wrote:

> having reverted to stone form I run into the building attacking
> visible targets with ice shards (roll 78).  And wait for the rest of
> the group to enter.

Christopher W. Acers wrote:

> "Ahem!"

> Masque says...loudly.
> "I can go in and tell you where they are. I have this neat little
> trick that I can do. It made Shirley Maclaine famous....If you
> wouldn't mind keeping an eye on my body, I won't be a moment?"

>  (This is called 'response area')

Och looks at you oddly, Ronin, and says, "Who're you calling short,
mister?!"  Before you can reply, however, Hawk cuts in.  "Okay, Masque -
if that's your name - go ahead and do your trick.  I got you..."  As you
go astral, you zip into the building, and verify what you see.

The seven window thugs are still there, in addition to two on level two,
who are fighting Jinx - it looks pretty ugly.  Furthermore, you see one
of these robot thingies walking around on level 1, as if looking for
trouble.  As you return to tell people this, that rocky guy charges.

He runs right in as automatic gunfire rains down upon him, and sprays
the robot with ice that he's seemingly generating himself.  The robot
merely looks amused, and appears to be readying to shoot him something
fierce.

You get back in your body and find that you've been held up by this Hawk
character all this time.  It's kind of nice, for a change, to pull your
astral projection stunt and just walk out of it as if nothing happened.
After you relay your info, Hawk gets ready.

Flash and Grunt throw up some cover fire, and you all charge into the
building after that Stone Cold fellow.  Upon entering, you see him in
combat with a nine foot tall, chromed-up robot, one who squeals in
delight.  It speaks.

"Ah!  Excellent!  More people with which to test out my new robot,
Mutilator 002!"  It doesn't sound like any robot you imagine, having an
almost aristocratic sound to it.  Then it speaks in the expected digital
speech.  "Nice Knowing You."

The goofy thing then starts emitting sound - music, actually.  Those of
you that bother to listen to it hear Kraftwerkz' "We Are The Robots"
emitting from the so-called Mutilator.  Apparently, its creator has a
rotten, rotten sense of humor.

It doesn't even bother to dodge your various attacks, taking sword
strikes from Ronin, cane smashes from Ronin, gunfire from Hawk, an axe
cleave from Och, and even Stone Cold's ice spray.  Once you've all made
your moves, it laughs a chilling, digital laugh.

"Hah.  Hah.  Hah.  Is that the best.  That you have?"  The thing then
moves its shoulder, which is revealed suddenly to be a Gatling cannon
(!), and it opens fire on the lot of you!  Only you seem to get hit with
one or two shells, Stone Cold, but they were grazing shots.

No apparent damage has been caused to you.

Then the robot speaks again.  "Well done, well done!  You haven't fled
in terror, then!  Excellent."  It's using that dignified voice again.
Excellent.  Shall we do this thing, then?"  The robot extends dripping
claws from its wrists, and triggers jump-jets in its feet.

Yes, Jump Jets, Masque.

It looks ready to go into over drive.  What do you all do?  (Go ahead
and roll initiative and such, and make sure you peg declarations to most
of the rolls, at least.  If you can, anyways.  And we'll go from there,
eh?"

Meanwhile, out side, Reaper finally catches up to that bus, Silhouette.
It took a little while, as traffic behind the thing was understandably
quite shaken up.  However, you see signs of an impressive gunfight, and
see two of the Joes hiding behind their shot up bus, there.

They look remarkably calm through all this, as if it were just another
day on the job.  That in itself is weird, as you don't hear about too
many blocks in N.Y.C. being torn to shreds by automatic gunfire or hired
mercs.  Not lately, anyway.

What do you do?

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 12 May 1999 13:27:16 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> [8 Initiative, 83 to Hit, 62 Damage, 79 to Hit, 60 Damage, 70 Dodge,
> 81 Dodge, 93 to Scout out the surroundings, 70 to Snag the
> Extinguisher, and if you allow it, 94 to Spray the bastard with the
> stuff!]

Blamm Blamm Blamm!!  You take your next shots before Proctology Pete can
even think about being smarmy in your general direction, taking his head
clean off in an explosive shower of flesh.  His body falls, and you
acquire a fire extinguisher within seconds.

Before it can grow back, if it can grow back, you spray Pete's head with
the extinguisher, causing a gurgling sound to come from the holes in his
throat.  He spasms for a bit, and then stops moving.  You then hear a
voice behind you.  "That won't stop him forever, Jinx."

"That's Proctology Pete, you know.  He's quite the infamous merc... says
he's been killed over a hundred times, and keeps coming back for more."
As you pull a blade, the voice - which you know to be Zartan - simply
says "Don't bother.  Even dicing him won't do the job.  I know."

"Believe me."

Just then, the sounds of automatic gunfire erupt from underneath you, as
well as several loud bursts that sound as if they came from a grenade or
three.  Zartan smiles.  "Ahh... the boys are playing again.  I wonder if
they found our robotic friends, or just regular mercenaries...  Hm..."

Now what, Jinx?

Subject: Re: FW: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Wed, 12 May 1999 13:37:03 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

>> Rebound lets her go, feeling very confused and not the least bit civil.

The armored lady just looks at you.  "I'm with Temoral Maintenance,
remember?  How could I keep the time stream running smoothly without
being able to tinker with it."  She motions to you with her electronic
slate.  "This baby does all the work, though."

"As far as your question about the Brand, well, you'll find out soon
enough."  She looks at her slate again.  "About one minute from now, if
I read this right.  Enjoy life!"  Without a sound or nifty flash of
light, the Lieutenant vanishes into time, leaving you two there.

>> Leaving the boiler room, you immediately find those three thugs,
>> hiding behind the cover of a bar, as several angry looking fellows
>> fire automatic machine guns at them.  Oddly enough, the biker types
>> you followed in don't seem to have guns - but they *do* have grenades.

>> You can see that the thugs (sans their leader) are about to make this
>> quite an explosive situation, Rebound.  Do you deal with them or
>> their heavily armed opponents?  Or just duck behind something and let
>> the body parts settle where they may??

>> Rebound charges into the room at full speed heading straight for the
>> heavily armed goons and ignores the ones with the grenades. (Init:
>> 7+1=8)  He tries to charge right through the center of them letting
>> his unique abilities throw (OK, blast) them out of the way (70 to
>> hit, 92 damage   Dodge?  what is this thing you call Dodge?

>> ...evilgrin...).

>> "OOOHHH, grenades...I LIKE grenades"

>> He then continues running into the building trying to look for the
>> leader of the grenade-throwing goon squad or who they were here to
>> "help out".

You charge right into the trio of mercs that were firing on the thugs
you followed into the building, and catch them totally off guard; they
weren't expecting to be flanked.  You nail them with enough force to
cause a Excellent (20) ranked explosion.

This causes them to fly apart at odd angles, and the three biker-type
Aussie goons, seeing they didn't need their grenades, hopped out from
behind their cover and pummeled the mercs senseless; of course, thanks
to you, that didn't take too much work.

"Thanks, pal!"  They continue their work for a bit, justifiably angry
that they were fired upon, and then retrieve their various destructive
items and follow you and Ken as the two of you charge into the building.
You then hear massive signs of battle above you.

Ken speaks up at this.  "Sounds impressive.  Should we check this out?"
Still on your quest for the leader of these goons, you and Ken head
upstairs, only to find a most impressive battle going on between about
six people and a giant, nine foot tall robot!!

Ken again looks your way, and laughs.  "A robot!  Hah!  This just gets
better and better!"

What do you do?

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 12 May 1999 13:46:10 -0500
From:    Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

> Then the robot speaks again.  "Well done, well done!  You haven't fled
> in terror, then!  Excellent."  It's using that dignified voice again.
> Excellent.  Shall we do this thing, then?"  The robot extends dripping
> claws from its wrists, and triggers jump-jets in its feet.

> Yes, Jump Jets, Masque.

Masque throws up is eldritch shield in a flurry of gestures, almost
panicked gestures and attempts to cast Bad Luck on the Machine.

(5 for Initiative and a 76 for the roll. A yellow result on Rm)

Subject: RE: FW: [v13] the Star Brand!
Date:    Wed, 12 May 1999 15:02:27 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Ken again looks your way, and laughs.  "A robot!  Hah!  This just gets
> better and better!"

Rebound has had his share of run-ins with all of this technological
junk.  He stops his charge and tosses a bunch of lines at the things
lower extremities (3 from each hand.  Init 10+1=11  Hit rolls: 60, 43
Damrolls: 78, 91) and shouts to Ken:

"Ken hit it high, I've got it low."

Rebound times his explosion to go off just after Ken hits it hoping to
topple it at worst, send it spinning at best.  While this is happening,
Rebound tries to see if he can spot any communications link-ups the tin
beastie has (62 on Intuition).

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 12 May 1999 13:28:58 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

Being rather a little miffed.  I attack with a couple of swift kicks to the
robots knee caps to keep it from getting away. (Init: 7, Attacks: Speed +
kicks: 79, 84, 88).  Stone Cold.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 12 May 1999 17:32:44 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx grumbles, kicking at the messy pile of flesh.

"Um...I don't want this bastard to jump me while I'm out there fixing
things. I need to find some place to put him away! Um...yeah!" she says,
a sudden burst of thought striking her.

She grabs Pete's vibroblade and starts dicing him up despite Zartan's
warnings and runs to the nearest restroom. She then starts throwing bits
of Pete into the toilet, flushing vigorously. She uses all of the
toilets, doing her best not to clog them, hoping he gets lost in the
sewers for at least a short while.

"Ha! Sure...he'll heal, but he'll have to make his way back out of that
muck hole...and without this!" she grins triumphantly, doused in gore
and brandishing the vibroblade, the only thing clean on her person
(gotta love ultra-tech).

She then get's back down to business, reloading her guns and slipping
one into its holster while keeping one out and the other hand wrapped
around the hilt of the vibroblade.

If Zartan is still around after all of this, she'll holler at him to
keep up as she chugs down the hallway towards the sound of robotic
mayhem!

"Come on! We've got more ass kicking to do!"

[She'll basically lay into any mutilators she sees, going full auto with
her free gun then run in for a swipe with the VibroBlade 2000 (tm),
hoping to take out the chest with the gun and the head with the knife.
Rolls: 7 Initiative, 79 to Hit with the gun, 79 for Damage (weird!), 90
to Hit with the knife, 67 Damage, 24 Dodge, 73 Dodge, 41 Dodge, 97, 43,
57 for various other sundry rolls.]

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 12 May 1999 23:57:20 -0500
From:    "Andy Hicks" <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

(Inititiative:7+3=10, Extra Dodges: 89, Extra Attacks: 88.  Dodges: 82, 51, 91.)

Hardcore again attacks the electronic beast, leaping to take two shots at
its head, and then taking another at its gatling cannon on the way down.
Meanwhile, he pays special attention to those claws as he dodges any
attacks, attempting to make his way behind the Mutilator.

(Attack 1: 69 (hit) and 9 (damage), Attack 2: 52 & 39, Attack 3: 48 & 60.)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Thu, 13 May 1999 20:53:20 EDT
From:    MLJoinerJR@aol.com

>  They look remarkably calm through all this, as if it were just another
>  day on the job.  That in itself is weird, as you don't hear about too
>  many blocks in N.Y.C. being torn to shreds by automatic gunfire or hired
>  mercs.  Not lately, anyway.

Reaper eases off of the bike, watching the scene unfold.  He crouches next to
the bike, maybe more reflexively than anything, and helps Sil down as well.
He absently notices the way his arm seems to want to go around her, then as
if realizing his familiarity - and how the middle of a fight is probably not
the place for it - he pulls his hand away slowly, and gestures with a nod
towards the fight.

"You'd think these guys get off on this kind 'a thing" he says, shaking his
head.  He turns to look out around the street - looking for anyone caught in
the middle of this innocently.

<resp>

"As long as they seem to want to handle this, and none of them seem to be
getting hurt...hell - and after the way they treated *you*...I'm for getting
the 'regular' people outta here - keep them safe.  But...if you want a peice
of whats goin' down in *there* - I can't help but want to be near you when
you do!"

He flashes her a smile, energy beginning to crackle in earnest around him...

OOC:

I am so SO sorry for holding things up!  Especially Lady Arakne - stuck on
the back of a bike with a guy who goes AWOL for several days!

But...at least for NOW - my recently activated Air Guard unit is just
"Milling about smartly, and scaring the hired help" to coin a phrase.  No
word as yet as to whether we're gonna do anything more than that.

I am on a PC a little more regularly while I'm there now - so hopefully I'll
be able to contribute a little something during the day...until the next
change comes down (if at all...)

Otherwise, my on-line time is only somewhat better than it was during the
whole "Gotta couple a' new babies now!" days...

I'll try harder to keep up - as long as I can!

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Fri, 14 May 1999 12:03:37 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>(Attack 1: 69 (hit) and 9 (damage), Attack 2: 52 & 39, Attack 3: 48 & >60.)

Ronin follows suit and joins his comrade-in-arms.
He focuses his attacks on keeping the claws occupied so as to
prevent Hardcore from getting slashed to ribbons.

(Init 8; Dodge: 73; Attacks 71 94 83; Damage: 73 32 66)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Sat, 15 May 1999 21:43:50 -0600
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

>  They look remarkably calm through all this, as if it were just another
>  day on the job.  That in itself is weird, as you don't hear about too
>  many blocks in N.Y.C. being torn to shreds by automatic gunfire or hired
>  mercs.  Not lately, anyway.

Reaper eases off of the bike, watching the scene unfold.  He crouches next to
the bike, maybe more reflexively than anything, and helps Sil down as well.
He absently notices the way his arm seems to want to go around her, then as
if realizing his familiarity - and how the middle of a fight is probably not
the place for it - he pulls his hand away slowly, and gestures with a nod
towards the fight.

"You'd think these guys get off on this kind 'a thing" he says, shaking his
head.  He turns to look out around the street - looking for anyone caught in
the middle of this innocently.

<<No shit!!>> Sil replied, <<Don't worry too much about me, I'm darn near invulnerable.>>

"As long as they seem to want to handle this, and none of them seem to be
getting hurt...hell - and after the way they treated *you*...I'm for getting
the 'regular' people outta here - keep them safe.  But...if you want a piece
of whats goin' down in *there* - I can't help but want to be near you when
you do!"

He flashes her a smile, energy beginning to crackle in earnest around him...

<<I'm a martial artist, but my shadow melting powers are far better for getting people evacuated. I think we'd be best at that... those "GI Joes" give me a headache...>>

(tag Reaper)

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 17 May 1999 04:13:26 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

Woo!

(Okay, everybody... here's my own apology for holding things up all
weekend.  Sorry...  Things and stuff kept coming up, so I never got to
replying to the lot of you until now.  But now that things seem under
control again, let the fun begin!)

You come down the stairs, Jinx, after handling Proctology Pete, and
Zartan was starting to mention something about your cleaning yourself up
first, when things suddenly went berzerk.  There, in the D.A.A. lobby,
was a Mutilator robot - being fought by a whole lot of people!

Before you can act, this fellow in a black cloak throws these sticky
strands at the Mutilator, and catches it by the legs.  He holds it tight
as you take a full-auto shot with your hand cannon, spraying the beast's
chest with several dozen rounds.  They reflect all over, of course.

Oh sure, a few penetrate the Mutilator's chest armor, but not that many.
It would seem that several of the deflections struck that cloaked fellow
and the guy with him, who's in a brown leather jumpsuit and a motorcycle
helmet.  They both take the bullets just fine.

The cloaked fellow exploded in places, however, as the bullets hit, but
it seems more of an ablative effect, in that he's intact after the small
explosions.  Before you reach the Mutilator with the knife, though,
several of the others take shots at the robotic menace.

Hardcore jumps into the fray, screaming as he tags the chromed up
monster, smashing it in the head twice, and once in the gatling cannon
in an attempt to disorient it, and Ronin then came in swinging his magic
blade; this prevents the Mutilator from countering Hardcore's moves.

He managed, in fact, to cleave the ends off of the Mutilator's claws,
meaning that the robot would be forced to punch a body before the
remnants of those sharp blades and poison could affect anybody.  Right
after that, three people you don't know move in on it.

This big rocky fellow kicks it in the kneecaps, and is unopposed (as the
thing is occupied with Ronin and Hardcore) in smashing it to it's knees;
you see that it is only standing now thanks to the strands that the
cloaked man attached to its legs.

Thereafter, this rather short, stocky fellow in Indiana Jones gear jumps
at the Mutilator, hacking at the beast's groin - and slicing a severe
tear in the thing's metal casings there.  He laughs a terrifying bellow
as he attacks, which is countered by the chanting of another stranger.

This fellow, wearing a garish collection of multicolored costume
components, which are crowned in a giant collared cape, waves his
fingers in an eye-watering way reminiscent of the Plantmaster's, and
when he's done, you see that the robot looks suddenly clumsy.

Finally, that last fellow, the guy in the brown leather outfit, flies at
the Mutilator with impressive jump-starting speed, going from zero to
about 150 instantly.  He nails the robot in the torso, and flies right
through it - the Mutilator then falls to the ground in a broken heap.

He laughs, but then so does the robot, in that distinguished, mocking
voice.  "Ha ha ha!  Fools!  While you battled this remote controlled
robot and my mercenary stooges, I have retrieved that which you have
stolen from me:  my child, Mutilator 001's neuropathic processor!!"

"Even as we speak, his new body has collected his brain, and he is going
to lay low for a time.  Foolish humans!  Oh, and Jinx:  by the time you
hear this message, the police just ought to be responding to all this,
so feel free to explain to them why this building is also ruined."

"You seem to have a record in this area.  Ha ha ha!  By the way, don't
bother trying to follow my mechanical child; I'm leaving the lot of you
with a good bye present... you!"  With that, the robot's remains begin
to melt down, slagging into a heap of chromed goo and leftover circuits.

You, along with everybody else, feel a sort of sense of foreboding about
all this, and you know that Roy's got something ugly up his sleeve -
it's in his nature.  But, at least the fighting is over, as you hear no
more gunfire coming from upstairs.

Outside, Silhouette, as you and Reaper deal with the pedestrian mob that
has assembled to watch the two Joes outside battle with mercenary
troops, you see that the action is winding down.  Most of the mercs have
been, indeed, taken out by these two members of the Joe team.

Only one is left, and he seems to be giving up.  Well, either that or
he's dropped his gun, and has a good reason to be reaching for the sky
in that window.  Just then, as the crowd waits in anticipation of the
police's arrival, something happens - something powerful!

You feel the psionic wave of power reach out from the southwest, and the
raw power it carries seems to indicate that it came from many, many
miles away.  Somebody has just reached out, and while you're not sure
who has this level of power, you think you know what has happened.

Someone has just lost control of their mind to this psionic presence!
As Silhouette reels from this overwhelming display of psionic power, you
sense something as well, Reaper.  A disturbance in the binding force of
causality itself - something extremely dangerous.

You feel a mounting pool of cosmic energies building up inside the
devastated Direct Action Americans' headquarters - and you feel a
malevolent presence behind it.  This is no robot, but something...
different.  Something alien.

What do you do about it?!

Subject: RE: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 17 May 1999 08:39:25 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

Rebound stands still for a moment, taking stock of the situation.

"Let's see, one robot turned to slag...and somebody brought the whole goon squad to take it out.  OK, I have no idea who ANY of you are, but SOMEONE is going to tell me what is going on here REAL fast."

<Um, response space...or something>

Rebound slowly moves next to Ken, while keeping his eyes on the gathered
masses.  He whispers,  "Ken, do you have any idea who any of these
people are, or what we should do now?  I just hope they're the good
guys."

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 17 May 1999 11:50:44 -0500
From:    Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

> You, along with everybody else, feel a sort of sense of foreboding about
> all this, and you know that Roy's got something ugly up his sleeve -
> it's in his nature.  But, at least the fighting is over, as you hear no
> more gunfire coming from upstairs.

Masque wipes his hands. Sits down on the floor. Pulls out a Snickers and says,

"You wouldn't believe how hungry I am. I vote we all go for some pancakes and get you",

Masque points and the neurotic lady with all the guns,

"out of here!"

 And he promptly wipes the chocolate off of his face

Subject: Re: FW: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 17 May 1999 11:53:42 -0500
From:    Christopher <cwacers@home.com>

> >   "Let's see, one robot turned to slag...and somebody brought the
> > whole goon squad to take it out.  OK, I have no idea who ANY of you
> > are, but SOMEONE is going to tell me what is going on here REAL fast."

Masque turns towards you, "We're going for pancakes"

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 17 May 1999 11:08:07 -0600
From:    "Lady Arakne" <araknesweb@darkspiral.com>

> He flashes her a smile, energy beginning to crackle in earnest around him...

Lady Arakne wrote:

>> "You'd think these guys get off on this kind 'a thing" he says,
>> shaking his head.  He turns to look out around the street - looking
>> for anyone caught in the middle of this innocently.

> <<No shit!!>> Sil replied, <<Don't worry too much about me, I'm
> darn near invulnerable.>>

>> (snippity snip snip)

>> He flashes her a smile, energy beginning to crackle in earnest around
>> him...

> <<I'm a martial artist, but my shadow melting powers are far better
> for getting people evacuated. I think we'd be best at that... those
> "GI Joes" give me a headache...>>

Seeing the cops arriving, Sil grabbed Reaper by the back of his
baggy jeans, and pulled him into the shadows, and sank the bike
into the darkness for storage.

They seemed to vanish from view, though noone really notised them
in the turmoil...

<<Reaper, I don't think we want to get tangled in all *that*...>>
she mindspoke, indicating the local law enforcement getting
ready to face off with the technophobic mage, Jinx and the GI Joes,
<<That looks like a bad situation waiting to happen, and I get the
feeling Jinx down there pissed of a pretty powerful psitalent
somewhere... I felt a broadcast of considerable power, and it seems
the intent was to mindcontrol someone or something...>>

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Mon, 17 May 1999 18:04:49 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx stands there breathing deeply for a moment or three staring at the slagged robot.

Then she screams.

"God Damnit! Why does he have to be such a fucking prick?! Damn! Damn!
Damn!" she hollers as she stomps around, holstering her guns so she
doesn't accidentally shoot someone.

"I'm going to kill him. No ifs ands or buts about it. The man is dead.
I'm going to take a fucking icecream scoop to his brain and eat it!
We'll see how funny his psionics are then! Won't we?!" she seems to
almost be frothing, losing whatever coherence she had to begin with.

[OOC: Totally clueless.]

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 18 May 1999 13:10:23 EDT
From:   "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>
 
>"I'm going to kill him. No ifs ands or buts about it. The man is dead. I'm
>going to take a fucking icecream scoop to his brain and eat it! We'll see
>how funny his psionics are then! Won't we?!" she seems to almost be
>frothing, losing whatever coherence she had to begin with.

Ronin winces as Jinx lets loose with her usual volley of profanity
and violence.  He stifles a unapproving gaze and remark.  Calmly,
he makes a suggestion.

"It would seem prudent for us to vacate this location. While I am
sure Colonel Hawk-sama and his men can provide credential to account
for their part here and may vouch for some gathered here, I doubt
that it will hold true for all concerned."

Ronin glances sheepishly at Jinx.

"Err...does anyone have an expedient way for us to leave these premises
perhaps without being detected by the authorities?"

Ronin looks at the gathering questioningly.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 18 May 1999 12:59:52 -0500
From:    "Andy Hicks" <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

>"Err...does anyone have an expedient way for us to leave these premises
>perhaps without being detected by the authorities?"

"Yeah, Colonel.  You gonna get us all outta here, or what?" Hardcore adds
superfluously.  "We ain't got all damn day!"

Subject: RE: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 18 May 1999 15:53:58 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "Yeah, Colonel.  You gonna get us all outta here, or what?" Hardcore adds
> superfluously.  "We ain't got all damn day!"

Rebound looks about the room, still cautious about this bunch.

"Colonel?  Military?  Great, another military op.  Just fucking great.
It's the goddamned government trying to screw everything up again."

He looks with absolute bewilderment at Masque...

"Pancakes?  What the hell does this have to do with pancakes?"

Rebound starts to head back the way he came in, gently nudging Ken in the same direction.

"If you want a way out that nobody outside will notice, just follow me, but  I'll warn you now, I don't know any of you, or trust you for that matter,  but you seem to be the good guys. If anybody takes a pot-shot at my back, you'll all be sorry.  That's not a threat, just a bit of advice.  People who hit me in the back don't tend to stay vertical afterwards..."

Rebound retraces his steps back into the sewers and to the manhole he came in.  (85 to remember the path).

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Tue, 18 May 1999 17:26:55 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx seems to not even notice Ronin's disapproving glances, apparently
lost in her own internal sadistic little world, grinning wildly, her
eyes almost glazing over.

But she snaps back to "lucidity" when Rebound mentions the sewers.

"Yeah! Sewers! Access tunnels! Great! No cops...definitely no cops!" she
blathers following Rebound eagerly, lapsing back into her own daydream
of utterly destroying Roy, occasionally making suggestive motions with
her hands.

Subject: Re: [v13] Convergence!
Date:    Wed, 19 May 1999 01:06:36 -0500
From:    "Andy Hicks" <ahix@mail.utexas.edu>

Hardcore watches intently as Jinx starts away, and follows silently behind
her from a safe distance.

"Can't let her get away that easy," he thinks to himself.  "Not after all
the crap she's put me through...  Stupid fuckin' broad.

"Course, gettin' the hell outta here real quiet don't sound too bad
either..."

[OOC:  If no one stops Jinx from continuing on, Hardcore will pursue her
regardless of what is happening behind him.  Rolled a 55 to avoid detection
by Jinx (or Rebound and Ken for that matter).  Also, if (when) they reach
the sewers, Hardcore will follow climbing along the walls to avoid splashing
in the water.]
