Variant Earth 13 E Mail Game Archive Number 11

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 05 Aug 1999 20:11:33 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> As she finishes this, she settles back in the booth, putting her
> sunglasses on, and apparently starts snoozing.

While you attempt to go to sleep, that telekinetic girl, Tammy comes
over to sit in your booth.  Seeing the look on your face, she
immediately apologizes for almost-waking you up.  "Sorry, you just
didn't look very talkative, and that's what I'm looking for right now."

"Tired of people today."

She then slumps into her booth, mindless of your sleeping attempt, and
looks as though she's generally trying to avoid humanity altogether.
You know that feeling, Jinx, so you can at least sympathize a little.
After all, you've been there all month, eh?

(theoretical response space)

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 05 Aug 1999 17:44:39 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx barely even stirs as Tammy settles into the booth.

She mumbles something about, "Whatever...sleepin'...shoot somthin'..."
before passing out again.


Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 05 Aug 1999 20:17:10 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> Rebound plays with his silverware restlessly, obviously uncomfortable
> with the current situation.

"Well, friend Rebound, this city is actually a sort of haven for people
like myself, servants of a proponent of cosmic balance in the world.
Known as Confluence, it rests in a space that is between several major
cities across the globe, yet is at the same time a part of them all."

"Most of the individuals that live here are used to the paranormal, such
as folks like yourselves.  However, the specific people within this
diner are, in fact, subject to a masking magic of my own design, in
order to keep them in the dark about our mission to come."

"Speaking of which, I must go check on the others, to ensure that they
are all right, and ready to go."  With that, Ahom gets up and prepares
to leave, but Silhouette and Reaper come in before he can even get to
the door (as indicated in my reply to Arakne's post).

(theoretical response space)

Subject: Re: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Thu, 05 Aug 1999 20:24:19 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

Leaving the diner, Ahom made his way across the street, in order to
check on the last participant in the desperate battle to come.  Knocking
on his door, Ahom was met with silence.  Not a groan indicating he was
still sleeping, but the abject silence of a vacant room.

Passing through the door with his magic, Ahom saw the room empty, though
it was slept in.  Investigating the room, the balance mage found a note
on the desk, taped onto the television.  "Gotta go - have some business
to take care of.  Try to catch up to you later or something."

It was signed Hardcore.

Though he was saddened by the disappearance of the fellow, Ahom sighed
and made his way back to the rest of his assembled heroes.  He just
hoped that Hardcore made his way out of Confluence and back to the real
world without undue incident...

(note:  basically, I'm writing Andy's character out for the time being,
'cause I simply haven't heard from him in a good long time.  I hate to
do it, because he's a real good player and all, but it's been over a
month with no contact whatsoever - and I dunno why.)

(I'm not killing him off, mind you, as I am leaving room for him to get
back in the game in the future.  I'll wait until I hear from him again
before I do that, though.  So if you're getting this, dude, gimme a
holler a.s.a.p.!)

Subject: RE: [v13] Schemes and Dreams
Date:    Fri, 6 Aug 1999 13:14:02 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "Speaking of which, I must go check on the others, to ensure that they
> are all right, and ready to go."  With that, Ahom gets up and prepares
> to leave, but Silhouette and Reaper come in before he can even get to
> the door (as indicated in my reply to Arakne's post).

Rebound continues to impatiently tap his silverware on the table not really
caring how much it annoys anyone else...

"Bored, bored, bored...I'm so tired of waiting for things to happen.  Can't
we just take the fight to him already.  Geez, I really gotta let off some
steam.  Anyone want to volunteer as a punching bag?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Digest Number 31
Date:    Tue, 10 Aug 1999 15:03:37 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> They seemed quite at ease with one another as though they shared some secret 
> that the rest of the group would never be privy to...

Reaper is wearing sunglasses, and evidently avoiding any
kind of eye contact with Kevin - concentrating mostly on
Sil and his breakfast.  His skin seems different, something
that cannot quite be made out...

> As you walk in, Ahom looks at the two of you and smiles.  "Aha!  And that just 
> leaves one... in fact, I had better go check on him now.  Sorry I cannot tarry 
> and talk, but we really must get this show on the road..."

Reaper glances up at Ahom, eyebrows furrowing, "Uh...?".  He looks back at Sil, leaning in to whisper in her ear, "He's, umm, familiar, but...who is he again?"

> Once you've received your waffles (mmm... waffles...), Och leaves the big 
> round table the others are situated and greets the two of you.  "Ah... good 
> morning to the two of you.  You look as if you have rested well.  In fact... 
> are you glowing?"

Reaper's eyes widen, and his mouth seems to be trying to say something, but nothing comes out...  "I, uuhhh, yeah I guess...Nice rooms we got there."
He nods sheepishly...

He looks up at Och, then turns to Sil.  He takes a deep breath, and holding her hand, he turns to look at Kevin through his sunglasses.  His body tenses as if he's preparing for something...

Subject: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 16 Aug 1999 18:07:13 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> He looks up at Och, then turns to Sil.  He takes a deep breath, and
> holding her hand, he turns to look at Kevin through his sunglasses.
> His body tenses as if he's preparing for something...

(Actually, it's Ken, not Kevin, but that's okee)

You look at Ken, and see him looking warily over at the table where Jinx
and Tammy are sitting, as if he were expecting silverware to be flung at
him or something.  Nothing untoward happens, however; he looks normal,
and isn't blinding you with the brilliance of his power.

His accursed power.

Anyway, the lot of you finish up your breakfasts, and Ahom finally comes
back in from his errand across the street.  "Well, everybody that's
coming along for this little adventure's here, so if you all are ready
to face the task at hand, well, follow me!"

The gray-robed mage heads out of the curious diner, and walks around the
corner counter-clockwise, heading back into an alleyway that looks
curiously like the one you left recently back in New York City.  He
waggles his fingers a bit, almost absentmindedly, and a portal appears.

The shimmering silvery gateway beckons to you all, and Ahom promptly
steps through.  By the time you all start hopping through (assuming that
you do), Ahom has used his magic to clear the rubble from that crater
Ken made while possessed by the evil Roy Shijitzu.

"Ah, that should do it.  Now, Rebound, if you would, do you believe you
can lead us back to the spot where you encountered that little pink
fellow?  That's as good as any a place to begin our search for the dread
Morbis..."

(theoretical response space)

(note:  the reason I waited so long to respond to all this is, well,
because I was waiting to see if anybody hopped onto those theoretical
response offered earlier.  Nobody did, though, so I'm just getting back
in on the action, eh?

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 16 Aug 1999 17:59:27 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> (Actually, it's Ken, not Kevin, but that's okee)

Oops - wrong game there, sorry...

> You look at Ken, and see him looking warily over at the table where Jinx and 
> Tammy are sitting, as if he were expecting silverware to be flung at him or 
> something.  Nothing untoward happens, however; he looks normal, and isn't 
> blinding you with the brilliance of his power.

Reaper lets out a tremendous amount of breath he obviously
was holding.  He looks to Sil with a slow grin, nods his
head as he squeezes her hand.

> Anyway, the lot of you finish up your breakfasts, and Ahom finally comes
> back in from his errand across the street.  "Well, everybody that's coming 
> along for this little adventure's here, so if you all are ready to face the 
> task at hand, well, follow me!"

Reaper stands with Sil, shrugs his shoulders, "Someday I'm
gonna want to get the low down on what *exactly* is
happening here..."

He makes sure his pouch containing the Infinitum is secure,
then follows the rest of the group out, opening/holding the
door for Sil, "If I may be so bold." he says in a slightly
dramatic tone, something of a...wicked grin playing on his
lips...

> The shimmering silvery gateway beckons to you all, and Ahom promptly steps 
> through.  By the time you all start hopping through (assuming that you do), 
> Ahom has used his magic to clear the rubble from that crater Ken made while 
> possessed by the evil Roy Shijitzu.

Reaper shakes his head, "I was just thinking that I'd never... ah hell and here we are!"

> "Ah, that should do it.  Now, Rebound, if you would, do you believe you can 
> lead us back to the spot where you encountered that little pink fellow?  
> That's as good as any a place to begin our search for the dread Morbis..."

Reaper raises an eyebrow, but resigns himself that this is yet another thing he needs to just let go.  He looks to Rebound expectantly...

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 16 Aug 1999 20:06:17 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx barely manages to rouse herself from her slumber as everyone departs from the restaurant, rushing to catch up.

"Damnit! No one woke me up!" she curses as she checks to make sure she hasn't left any equipment behind.

As she catches up she snags a bit of the conversation shortly after we step through the portal.

"Pink men? Are talking people who laid out a bit too long without any sunscreen?" she questions out loud, looking about the destruction surrounding the group.

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 17 Aug 1999 08:45:28 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "Ah, that should do it.  Now, Rebound, if you would, do you believe you
> can lead us back to the spot where you encountered that little pink
> fellow?  That's as good as any a place to begin our search for the dread
> Morbis..."

"OK, if you'll just follow me..."

Rebound drops into the sewer and begins to retrace his steps back to where
he saw the 'little pink man'.  To those more observant among us, Rebound
seems much more comfortable now that the group is out of plain sight.

"This is where it gets interesting...I went this way checking something else
out, but 'pinko-commie boy' went off that way.  Anyone have some way to
track him/her/it down?"

Rebound turns to Ahom expecting him to have the answer because Rebound
surely doesn't...

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 17 Aug 1999 19:48:15 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> "This is where it gets interesting...I went this way checking something else
> out, but 'pinko-commie boy' went off that way.  Anyone have some way to
> track him/her/it down?"

Reaper looks around dismally.  "Damn sure won't be by smell!"

> Rebound turns to Ahom expecting him to have the answer
> because Rebound surely doesn't...

Reaper follows Rebound's stare.

"...I uh...I was sorta out of it when we met, or at least
when everyone *else* met you.  I'm gettin' that you're a
pretty big-time magic guy and all, and that we're looking
for some," he turns to Rebound, "- 'pink guy'?" he then
turns back to Ahom, "and this is all most likely something
like us having to save the world and all that...so...I
don't know man, that about cover it?"

<tag>

"In that case, I guess its only right to get everything out
on the up'n'up..." He looks towards the group, "I got this
book...kinda lifted off'a some guys who were up to no
good...anyhow - it talks, seems to like me...calls itself
the Infinitum..."

He opens his bag, showing the top of the book, but not removing it...

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 18 Aug 1999 08:39:42 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "In that case, I guess its only right to get everything out
> on the up'n'up..." He looks towards the group, "I got this
> book...kinda lifted off'a some guys who were up to no
> good...anyhow - it talks, seems to like me...calls itself the Infinitum..."

> He opens his bag, showing the top of the book, but not removing it...

"A talking book?  I bet you're going to claim it's 'Magic' too.  So, what
does this 'talking book' have to say?  Does it have the answer to life, the
universe, and everything?"

Subject: [v13] RE: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 18 Aug 1999 13:28:42 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"A talking book?  I bet you're going to claim it's 'Magic' too.  So, what
>does this 'talking book' have to say?  Does it have the answer to life, the
>universe, and everything?"

>Rebound shakes his head unwilling to believe what he is hearing...

Ronin folds his arms.

"I have to agree with our masked associate....I fail to see how a book, even
one that 'talks', will help us face this adversary."

Ronin regards Reaper narrowly, as if he disapproves of what the man has
said.

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 18 Aug 1999 11:24:39 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> Rebound shakes his head unwilling to believe what he is hearing...

"Hell if I know man...Yeah it says its magic - somethin' like 'the sum total of all magic knowledge' or some such..."

He shrugs, lifting his arms out to his side in a disarming motion, "'bout all it ever tells me is just what to do, where to go...guess I never did *ask* it for any of those answers though."

> Ronin folds his arms.

> "I have to agree with our masked associate... I fail to see how a book, even
> one that 'talks', will help us face this adversary."

> Ronin regards Reaper narrowly, as if he disapproves of what the man has said.

Reaper arches an eyebrow over his sunglasses, "Like I said...Ronin?...I have *no* idea whether it can help or not.  It hasn't even said anything to me in a long time anyhow.  Besides, you seem to be about as 'hip' to all this magic
stuff as I am - which is to say neither of us probably have a clue as to what will help us out here or not."

He locks eyes with Ronin briefly, then back to the group - specifically Ahom, "I was mostly just lettin' *you* know - you seem to be the kind of guy who might just know exactly what if anything this book here can do..."

He shrugs, "Thats all."

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 18 Aug 1999 11:41:19 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"Then by all means, somebody use the book.  I need peace, I need closer,
what I need is to have Morbius buried 6ft under in a pine box.  So I can at
least get a decent nights sleep, not listen to you all prattle on about
wether the book is magical or not.  Good indication if it is talking,
chances are it probably is.  The real question we need to ask it is can it
help?"  "Sorry, all I am still kind of off my game, forgive the outburst."
Hormones on overdrive actually.  Slinking back into the shadows, stepping
out once he locates Tammy.  Whispering to her 'We need to talk.'

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 18 Aug 1999 16:58:56 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> "Then by all means, somebody use the book.  I need peace, I need closer,
> what I need is to have Morbis buried 6ft under in a pine box.  So I can at
> least get a decent nights sleep, not listen to you all prattle on about
> whether the book is magical or not.  Good indication if it is talking,
> chances are it probably is.  The real question we need to ask it is can it
> help?"  "Sorry, all I am still kind of off my game, forgive the outburst."

"Hey no sweat," Reaper replies, "Ya gotta good point though..."

Reaper shakes his head, "Whatever it takes, eh?  So lets just get on with it."

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Thu, 19 Aug 1999 18:26:25 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx just continues to check her weapons, readying her mind and body for
battle. She seems on edge, her body and eyes constantly in motion, never
settling down. If you didn't know any better, she might resemble a caged
tiger, pacing before its captors.

"Yeah, let's get on with it. We've got a job to do and everyone needs to
pitch and do what they do best. So, no pussyfootin' around, who the hell
can track the little pink bastard?" she blurts out, looking anxious to
get moving.

"What about you, Miss Psychic Shadow? Can you get in touch with the
inner essence of the darkness and get a bead on this guy?" she asks
sardonically of Silhouette, obviously stretching her rather narrow mind
to its limits.

Subject: [v13] Masque Awakens(finally)
Date:    Fri, 20 Aug 1999 07:33:45 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque suddenly unfreezes, almost as if he was lost in some strange
cyber-limbo where he had no access to his email for almost a month. And
he looks relieved, because after all, he wouldn't be caught dead on the
internet or on any highway near that dreaded construct of humanity.

"Could ya'll run that by me again, I seem to have lost my
bearings...Oooo, Blueberry syrup!"

<Solid!>

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Fri, 20 Aug 1999 20:27:14 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

As you sit before the hole that Zartan and his Dreadnoks punched into
the basement of the Direct Action Americans' former headquarters, where
Rebound last saw that 'little pink fellow', Ahom tries to answer your
question as best as he can.

"Again, I tell you that my magics will be useless in the tracking of
Morbis and his cronies...  He's sure to have masked himself from my
powers.  However, either Masque or that book may have some luck in this
endeavor, if we head off in the direction you saw that fellow run..."

Meanwhile, the book itself, the so-called Infinitum, seems to awaken
once it is repeatedly mentioned in conversation; that is, if books
actually slumber.  You feel it warm momentarily in your hands, Reaper,
and sense it metaphorically clearing its throat.

"Ahem.  Yes, yon know-nothings of the mortal realm.  I am the Infinitum,
the single most potent receptacle of earthly magics upon this plane of
existence.  Be it Earth, wind, water or fire, animal, plant, or weather,
I contain magics to alter all that is a part of nature!"

"However, there are those amongst you who can likely perform the
function that you wish me to.  If that eccentric wizard behind you all
fails to locate a trace of this fellow's whereabouts, and she who lives
in shadow similarly flounders, I will use my powers to find him."

As the book ceases its prattle, Tammy drags you away from the main group
here in the sewers.  "Okay, then.  If you want to talk, then talk.  Even
though we're 'on the job', it looks like these guys are lost, Stoney.
So what's up?"

(i think that was a response to everybody... hm)

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sat, 21 Aug 1999 13:24:06 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"Well since you were plenty piss'd at me for seeing you.  I just wanted to
say this:  I hadn't planned that, or any of this.  And just in case, I die
on this mission.  I just didn't want to have any regrets."  Having said that
Stone Cold kisses Tammy, long and deep.  Then stands back and waits for the
blow he knows will come.

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sun, 22 Aug 1999 05:36:03 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx just shrugs when hearing the book speak.

"Great. We have a book on the strike team. At least one of us has a
spine..." she mutters under her breath.

Subject: [v13] The Peanut Gallery
Date:    Sun, 22 Aug 1999 10:32:44 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Just couldn't pass that one up could ya Bil?...

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 23 Aug 1999 08:27:13 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> "However, there are those amongst you who can likely perform the
> function that you wish me to.  If that eccentric wizard behind you all
> fails to locate a trace of this fellow's whereabouts, and she who lives
> in shadow similarly flounders, I will use my powers to find him."

Rebound turns towards the pancake king and waits, tapping his foot impatiently (but very gently)

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 23 Aug 1999 17:06:22 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> "However, there are those amongst you who can likely perform the function that 
> you wish me to.  If that eccentric wizard behind you all fails to locate a 
> trace of this fellow's whereabouts, and she who lives in shadow similarly 
> flounders, I will use my powers to find him."

Reaper resists the urge to let go of the book just because it grew warm <<gotta get over this whole magic thing man - this world is just too filled with it!>>

He looks at the group, namely Ronin "Guess that answers the 'Gee man, books don't talk!' question." He looks to Masque "What about it man, you up for trackin' little pink men?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 23 Aug 1999 17:07:44 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

OOC - OOOoohhhh...sick book jokes!

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 23 Aug 1999 22:46:18 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

>Rebound turns towards the pancake king and waits, tapping his foot
>impatiently (but very gently)

"What!"

> He looks at the group, namely Ronin "Guess that answers the
> 'Gee man, books don't talk!' question." He looks to Masque
> "What about it man, you up for trackin' little pink men?"

Masque scratches his chin.  "Oh that."

As if by magic, his hand that was occupying his chin now moves towards
one of his many pouches and produces a York Peppermint patty. Oh c'mon,
you know how good they are, well I personally don't like them but
wizards... hell that's another story. They make you feel like you are
doing something in the snow, something fun I assume.
So Masque is eating his peppermint patty, closing his eyes and gesturing
with his free hand and stops gesturing. He slaps himself in the forehead

"How absentminded of me."
He offers what remains of the 'patty' and asks:
"Would any of you like a bite? It's only a little slobbery."

<response, if justified... heh>

Doing something strange with his toes, just because he likes that, he
'magic senses'.

(In an attempt to locate any powerful sources of magic, namely that guy
we are looking for, I forgot his name but Denny knows who it is and I
have deleted my old mails... too much clutter if ya ask me.
Rolling a 47 (Green feat, barely) and spending Karma to better the
chances, you do the math Denny)

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1999 15:52:23 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

Well, Masque, you cast your magics and you indeed see that, in a tunnel
leading south-southeast, there is some source of magical power.  Your
reading is faint, as though the magic were hiding from you, but you can
see it nonetheless.

As soon as your eyes light up with this, the Infinitum starts in again.
"There, that wasn't so hard, now, was it?  Instead of asking that which
is the Infinitum to find this technomage for you, you could have just
employed the mage among you who hates technology.  Simple, no?"

If you didn't know better, you'd think the book was gloating.

Meanwhile, looking down the many expanses of tunnels, Och confronts you,
Masque.  "Okay, wizard.  You have an idea where this loon is hiding at,
so we can get this over with and exit these tunnels?  I don't mind being
underground, but I despise these particular tunnels."

At about the same time, Ken starts looking around absently, using what
little light is available to take in his surroundings.  He looks lost in
thought, though you don't know about what, but he finally speaks a
moment later, if only grunting his agreement with Och.

However, things aren't so quiet on the other end of the tunnel, where
lie Stone Cold and Tammy.  "You... you... you!"  The telekinetic girl
stops and collects her thoughts.  "Argh!  I don't get you.  One minute
you're a complete ass, the next you're quasi-romantic?  Grrr..."

"Besides, it's not like we're going to DIE down here.  I tend to think
this Morbis goon is highly overrated, AND he just got ressurrected,
according to mister Ahom there.  So let us just get this done, so I can
kick your ass proper, okay?"  She grins when she says that, though.

Having said her peace, Tammy wanders back towards the others, as they
follow Masque (?) towards the power he detects...

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1999 12:20:16 PDT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

'Well at least, she didn't take my head off like I was expecting.  Bah,
women.  She did smile though, the first time in about a hundred years.'
Returning to the group himself.  'What does she mean quasi-romantic.  The
other part I understand, but me quasi-romantic.  I am not quasi-anything!'

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 25 Aug 1999 18:12:07 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx watches as everyone chats, shaking her head, but not following her
instinct to travel farther along the tunnels ahead of the group.

She knows she could get easily lost in these dark, twisting tunnels and
getting separated is one of the last things she wants.

She continues to survey the area, looking for any signs of danger, her
probability field extended out as far as she could allow it, attempting
to feel out any possible hostility. Once this is done, she contracts the
field so as not to interfere with anyone's chances of getting out of the
tunnels unscathed.

OOC: 66 to do some Danger Sensing.

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1999 11:44:41 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque raises a victorious finger and says;

"Sally Forth My Good men!" and starts running.  He turns his head to look and see if y'all are following him and promptly trips over his robes and does a spectacular tumble. Standing up indignity (spelling?), He says;

"and Ladies."

Turns and trips again.

"Friggen Frogkjfferkwjefhlyouiqfhjsafhkuads" is all you hear.

He begins walking instead.

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Thu, 26 Aug 1999 11:07:46 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

Rebound follows the amusing man in the long (too long) robes...

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Fri, 27 Aug 1999 12:24:49 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>
 
> He begins walking instead.

Reaper takes a deep breath (well, deep for being in a
sewer), offers his hand in a playful courtly manner to Sil,
then follows the eccentric mage...

...

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sat, 28 Aug 1999 02:39:30 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

You all trek onward through the dark, dank sewer tunnels.

The lot of you continue to hear strange echoes as you proceed, but it is
impossible to tell if they emit from yourselves or from someone or - God
forbid - something else.  Nonetheless, Masque leads you on a seemingly
endless procession of twists and turns that makes you feel lost.

Very lost.

He's happily humming his way along the muck, however, when one or two of
you start to smell it.  It smells like something's burning, real close,
and when you start to look around, you can see in the dim lighting that
the smoke is coming from Stone Cold's pants!

"Dude!"  Ken looks over at you, Stoney, and laughs.  "That must've been
one heck of a kiss, man!"  This gets him a back-handed slap from Tammy,
of course, but the fact still is that there's something burning inside
your clothing!

Thrusting your hand into a smoldering pocket, you discover the source
of this mystery to be the Stellar Key, that seems to pulsate with power
now that you can see it.  Luckily, you're rather resistant to higher
temperatures, or the power the Key is giving off would've hurt you bad.

As you ponder this mystery, Stoney, those of you paying attention can
see that Jinx is fidgeting a lot, even more than usual.  This is
because, Jinx, your danger sense is having a field day - you're seeing
trouble coming right at you, but you can't tell from where.

Similarly, Reaper, your renewed awareness of all things is being thrown
for a loop... something's wrong, something's very, very wrong in the
area around you all.  And that Key of Stoney's is starting to give you
the feeling that Ken's Star Brand thing did a while back.

You instinctively make sure your ionized sunglasses are in place, and as
you feel them upon your head, you see it.  A sort of blurring effect
occurs, in that you see events from several other time lines actually
running coincident with your own all of a sudden.

There's a flash of light, a light that only you can see, and then...

As you walk through the tunnels, Rebound, you find that you're actually
starting to get annoyed with Trouble.  Sure, he just joined the team,
but the goofy little immortal deadbeat seems to think he knows all there
is to know about, well, everything.

You still can't believe that this goon is some sort of god.  He's about
five foot eleven, has long blonde hair, and isn't wearing any regal
costume or armor, instead settling for jeans, leather boots, and a white
T-shirt that proclaims 'I'm the God'!

"Now, Rebound, this is the good part, okay?  When you fight the bad
guys, make sure you hit 'em with everything you got, right?  When they
fall down in eight pieces, just ask 'em 'Are you okay?'  I don't know
why, but it works.  And while they're down, take their stuff!"

Meanwhile, Ronin, you're having a serene conversation with the team's
self-proclaimed ninja, this wizardly martial artist calling himself, of
all things, Balance.  In low, hushed tones, you speak of the fine arts
of swordplay and magic.

You look at the half-Asian man from Canada with respect, as he's offered
to teach you certain basic mystic skills that will make your own mastery
of the blade at least three times more effective - as, like his own,
they would be enhanced by magical means.

"Aye.  When we get back to the Defenders' Building, read this scroll." 
You look at the ancient roll of paper, and can almost understand what it
says.  "On it is a spell that allows one to imbue his blade with mystic
power, letting it to cut through any matter like it were hot butter."

Up towards the front, a bit behind Masque, you find yourself assailed by
that weirdo shape-changer from outer space, Jinx.  Schroedinger's tall,
green skinned, has pointy ears, a ruffled chin, and has this purple mace
seemingly carved from some gem or another.

He's been trying to help you get better, mostly by telling you to look
inward to cure your homicidal rages.  You think it's a bunch of crap, of
course, but he seems to think it'll work, so you've at least offered to
give his weirdo priestly meditations a try.  Sometime, anyway.

"Now, Jinx, what you really want to do at times like that is just stop
and breathe in, through your nose, for about thirty seconds, or until
you feel the rage pass.  That way, you can at least try and stop
yourself from acting rashly, and can plan your revenge at your leisure."

You continue on like this for a few more minutes, at which point Masque
announces that yea, the magic he is detecting is right around the
corner.  That corner, of course, being the intersection of the tunnel
you are in with one much larger in size.

Trouble jumps up and hoots with delight.  "All right!  Let's bust up
some bad guys!"  Just then, all of you feel something of an itch, on the
back of your mind, as if something were wrong, something really, really
wrong, and you couldn't quite put your finger on it.

Then the temporal blur fades somewhat, and suddenly you all feel as if
you were returned to normal.  The trick is, of course, that these three
bozos from elsewhere are also still here, and you don't really know who
the Hell they are.  What do you do?

- Firebomb

" I believe in all kinds of Gods, especially the ones that give me
stuff..."  - Chris Acers

Charlie 'Stone Cold Says So' Clay Jr. wrote:

> 'Well at least, she didn't take my head off like I was expecting.  Bah, 
> women.  She did smile though, the first time in about a hundred years.' 
> Returning to the group himself.  'What does she mean quasi-romantic. The other 
> part I understand, but me quasi-romantic.  I am not quasi-anything!'

Bil 'Eat Your Brains' Lockwood wrote:

> Jinx watches as everyone chats, shaking her head, but not following her
> instinct to travel farther along the tunnels ahead of the group.

> She knows she could get easily lost in these dark, twisting tunnels and
> getting separated is one of the last things she wants.

> She continues to survey the area, looking for any signs of danger, her
> probability field extended out as far as she could allow it, attempting to 
> feel out any possible hostility. Once this is done, she contracts the field so 
> as not to interfere with anyone's chances of getting out of the tunnels 
> unscathed.

> OOC: 66 to do some Danger Sensing.

Chris 'Poppycock' Acers wrote:

> Masque raises a victorious finger and says;

> "Sally Forth My Good men!", and starts running.

> He turns his head to look and see if y'all are following him and promptly 
> trips over his robes and does a spectacular tumble. Standing up indignantly 
> (spelling?), He says;

> "and Ladies."

> Turns and trips again.

> "Friggen Frogkjfferkwjefhlyouiqfhjsafhkuads" is all you hear.

> He begins walking instead.

Douglas 'Random Mayhem' Loshe wrote:

> Rebound follows the amusing man in the long (too long) robes...

Michael 'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid' Joiner wrote:

> Reaper takes a deep breath (well, deep for being in a sewer), offers his
> hand in a playful courtly manner to Sil, then follows the eccentric mage...

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 30 Aug 1999 11:52:12 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

Stone Cold tries to get any indication of what to do with the key from the 
key (What type of power it hold how to tap into and so forth).  "Who are you 
guys, anyway?  And how on earth did you get here?"

Subject: RE: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 30 Aug 1999 08:57:15 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Then the temporal blur fades somewhat, and suddenly you all feel as if
> you were returned to normal.  The trick is, of course, that these three
> bozos from elsewhere are also still here, and you don't really know who
> the Hell they are.  What do you do?
 
"The temporal police are going to have a field day with this one, eh Ken?"

Rebound tries to figure out which reality is really the reality, but doesn't
anticipate much success in that endeavor. He takes a few moments to look
over the "new" members of the team, searching them out for any signs of
treachery.

"OK, I don't trust any of you right now, this is just getting too weird.
And DON'T tell me it's magic.  Teleportation or holograms, or maybe a force
field projector...but not magic.  No way."

Rebound shakes his head violently to clear his vision and his mind of this
nonsense...

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 31 Aug 1999 02:09:13 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> Then the temporal blur fades somewhat, and suddenly you all feel as if
> you were returned to normal.  The trick is, of course, that these three
> bozos from elsewhere are also still here, and you don't really know who
> the Hell they are.  What do you do?
 
Masque jumps at the newcomer's voices;

"Aughh people from nowhere!"

He then stops and ponders, that's what wizards do best I'll have ya
know. Pondering is an age old philosophy, dating back to...well  a very
long time ago. Long before the first Ham sandwich even. The very first
wizard started wizarding whilst pondering, pondering the fact that he
was in the grips of some other angry cave dweller. You see, he (the
wizard)  just happened to come across this very nice loin cloth and he,
being without a proper loin cloth, took it. Well somebody wasn't very
happy after he, that somebody, got out of the shower. We will name this
somebody Bob. Because all cavemen were named Bob, but that's another
story. So this Bob decided he wasn't very happy about that, so he looks
at the transgressor and says ;

"Ughhhh!"
and promptly grabs the surprised soon-to-be wizard by his taint.

So the aspiring wizard pondered. Pondered why he was being assailed by
this man. Pondered why this man was so angry, it's not as if he was
wearing the loin cloth. It WAS just lying there. It WAS not doing
anything a loincloth should do, namely on someone else. So He Pondered
why Bob WAS so angry. Then he pondered that if this Bob should become a
Frog, he would be free of this excruciating grip. And as if by Magic,
Bob wasn't holding him anymore. 
The wizard was happier than a fly in shit, then he wasn't so happy
anymore because He had in fact turned Bob into a saber-toothed tiger and
was promptly eaten, loincloth and all.
There is the story of the First Wizard and his pondering.

Masque then says;

"Well no matter, the more the merrier! Who's going first?"

<I am the blister on the heel of crime>

Subject: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 31 Aug 1999 12:53:33 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>Then the temporal blur fades somewhat, and suddenly you all feel as if you 
>were returned to normal.  The trick is, of course, that these three bozos 
>from elsewhere are also still here, and you don't really know who the Hell 
>they are.  What do you do?

Ronin looks at Balance as if he is about to say something but suddenly 
realizes he does not know what....

"You....." mutters Ronin.  His eyes narrow and his expression hardens.

"What is this....trickery!" he demands, suddenly drawing his blade and 
holding it threateningly at Balance.

He eyes the other two warily as well.

Subject:  Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:     Tue, 31 Aug 1999 17:45:06 -0500
From:     William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx looks completely stunned, although her features are blurred beneath
the swirling iridescence of her probability field.

Her grip shifts on her guns as she leaps back from the green-skinned freak hollering, "Hold it right there cheese-grater chin! What the hell is going on here!?"

She tries to keep an eye on everyone, backing herself up to one of the
walls of the tunnel.

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Thu, 2 Sep 1999 20:08:23 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

From: Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> You instinctively make sure your ionized sunglasses are in place, and as you 
> feel them upon your head, you see it.  A sort of blurring effect occurs, in 
> that you see events from several other time lines actually running coincident 
> with your own all of a sudden.

Reaper stops in his tracks, holding his hands out in front
of him as if to 'feel' the world around him...
"What the..."

> There's a flash of light, a light that only you can see, and then...

> (snippity snip snip)

> Then the temporal blur fades somewhat, and suddenly you all feel as if you 
> were returned to normal.  The trick is, of course, that these three bozos from 
> elsewhere are also still here, and you don't really know who the Hell they 
> are.  What do you do?

Reaper stops again, freezing as he feels the tingle in the back of his head.  His eyes flash beneath the sunglasses, and he blindly reaches out an arm to stop Sil if she didn't on her own.

"Waitaminute..." he says, shaking his head, "Hey Masque - hold on."

He looks around at the group, and the newcomers, "Listen, I don't know if you guys felt that...warning feeling... but I've learned the hard-assed way that whenever I gotta bad feelin' - somethin's about ta go real bad..."

He walks over to Masque.  He keeps his distance from the newcomers, a suspicious look in his eye, until he gets to Masque.

"Listen," he begins, looking the strange magician dead in the eye, trying to impart a very real sense of apprehension, "No more of the 'woe is the goofy me'
shtick...we gotta deal hard and fast with whatever the hell is around there...and I'm guessin' we don't have a whole lotta time ta figure out new and profound crap to pull in there." He looks to Ahom for confirmation, "right?"

He steps away from Masque, taking a deep breath, shaking out his arms as if to loosen up, "I know," He says resignedly, "Shut tha hell up Reaper, and go vaporize something..."

He slowly turns, beginning to walk towards the corner, "...Riiiiight...." he says in a low tone...

He 'phases' his own ions, energy crackling up and down his body.

His face and upper body suddenly sink in random lines and patterns, forming scars from which silver energy flashes.  His hair and clothing whip about him as if in a wind tunnel, as his hands are engulfed in streaming orbs of energy. 

Subject: Re: [v13] Quest through Underyork
Date:    Fri, 03 Sep 1999 02:19:28 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque looks at him in understanding shakes his head in agreement and nods his head in frustration.

Mumbling something about not really being goofy. It's not his fault.  He's a mage after all.

And follows Reaper, with all his defenses up and his 'Hook of Hoggoth' all ready to slice and dice.

<It's hard to answer questions with yer mouth full>

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sat, 04 Sep 1999 15:41:22 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

As the reality twist settles down somewhat, you all stand there in shock
and dismay as these three strangers start to get angry.  It would seem
that they don't appreciate the collective attitude that you all are
directing towards them, and it shows.

Meanwhile, you hold the pulsing Stellar Key up, Stone Cold, and it
doesn't give any indication as to why it suddenly activated, though it
seems that this goofy artifact is responsible for the situation at hand;
it cooled off right when you all regained your old dispositions.

As you ask your question, the long-haired immortal type looks at you and
says, "And you think that *I* smoke too much!  Jeez, wasn't it your idea
to hop into these tunnels and blow up this Morbis goon?  Eesh, and if
you can't remember who I am, you need help."

"I mean, how could you forget Trouble!?"  He poses dramatically.

Meanwhile, Ken responds to your confused comments, Rebound.  "Yeah, no
kidding.  I can see the good Lieutenant showing up any second with her
goofy little electronic clipboard, giving us a bigass lecture about why
we shouldn't alter reality... eek."

That green fellow up front, however, doesn't seem to amused by this. 
"You see, Balance?  I told you that this fellow was too unhinged to be a
Defender.  Just look at him, man."  He regards you with dismay, Rebound.
"Yes, he's totally regressed to his 'there's no magic' stage.  Shame."

When you draw you blade, Ronin, you get a decidedly more hostile
reaction from the man in front of you.  "Traitor!  Soul-less back
stabber!  I offer you the sum of my ninja clan's sword magic secrets,
and you draw your blade on me.  Me!"

"For a Samurai, you have no honor, charlatan!  You may have greater
skill than I with the blade, but my magic and my strength will see you
dead before another minute passes!  Prepare to meet your end, you vile,
loathsome villain!"  He then draws his own blade, leveling it at you.

"Cheese-grater chin?  C'mon, Jinx, you can do better than that."  The
green-skinned alien advanced on you, Jinx.  "Now, Jinx, let ol'
Schroedinger look into your broken little mind, and see just what is
wrong with you all of a sudden.  This won't hurt a bit..."

The alien throws his arms out, as if to show there were nothing under
his sleeves, and begins to waggle his fingers at you.  After a second or
two, a fey energy begins to manifest on his fingertips, but abruptly
stops.  "Hey, lower your p-field so I can help you, woman!!"

As you walk past the others and confront Masque, you see that Ahom is
following your motions closely, Reaper.  When you ask him what he thinks
of the situation, he only nods his head in the affirmative, being rather
cryptic, as is usually the case.

Then, as you prepare your individual powers for battle, Masque, Reaper,
you get ready to walk around the corner, only to be stopped by a wave of
force and burst of light, one that puts you in mind of a deer in the
headlights of an oncoming Mack truck.

As your eyes readjust to the sudden, overwhelming light, your other
senses also register some interesting facts.  You hear the sounds of a
powerful turbo fan, and hear it fighting against the water below it,
giving you the impression that somebody is floating before you.

Floating on a high tech sled!  In fact, you see this as your eyes bend
themselves around the powerful assault of the forward lamps on this
strange vehicle, and you see a man on top of this thing, adorned with
all manner of advanced accoutrements.

"Foolish interlopers!  You have trespassed upon the premises of my
sacred devices!  None of you will leave these man-made caverns alive,
mark my words!  Prepare to meet your gods, you primitive heathens!!" 
With that, the man charges towards the two of you on his sled.

Of course, to make things even more interesting, you notice that the
Stellar Key you're holding starts warming up again, Stone Cold.  Ahom
starts screaming at you from across the tunnels.  "Stone Cold!  Strike
the Key now!  Before it is too late!!"

What do you all do?

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sun, 05 Sep 1999 13:22:43 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx looks at Schroedinger as if she had a bad taste in her mouth and
pushes past him as she notices a good chunk of the group getting ahead
of her in the tunnels.

"Hey guys! Wait up! No killin' without me!" she hollers as she jogs
forward to catch up as they round the corner.

As she is consumed by the flash of light, she loses her bearings for a
moment, but quickly returns to her normal combat-oriented self when she
notices the battle-sled barreling down on the lot of them.

Trying not to panic, she lets loose with both hand cannons before diving
to the ground to try avoid the rush of the speeding vehicle.

[8 for Initiative, 88 to Hit, 90 for Damage! On a full auto strike with
one of the guns, the other one has a 62 to Hit and 99 for Damage! On a
full auto shot, too. 51 to Dodge, 64 to Dodge again, and 77, 56, 11 for
extra rolls. Jinx will also be attempting to reload her weapons as soon
as she hits the ground if possible.]

Subject: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 7 Sep 1999 08:48:29 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

Rebound shouts as he tries to shield his eyes from the horrible
glare..."Argh!!!  Bright Light!!!  That's none too nice, but then again,
neither is this..."

Rebound tosses and detonates two lines from each hand at the headlights of
the oncoming sled to put the (obviously hostile) newcomer in the dark and
prepares to toss some more if the rest of the assemblage doesn't finish the
job.

(Init: 6 Hit Rolls: 48, 60  Damage Rolls: 82, 62 Some day he'll learn to
dodge, but not today...Other rolls if needed 12, 13, 68)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 06 Sep 1999 00:17:43 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Out of pure fright Masque opens the portal that his Horse hails form and
without even thinking lets all ten of his horses out in a stream
directed at the guy on the sled. (in an effort to hurt him and knock him
off the sled).  You are not sure if he meant to do that or if it was
just some sort of reflex but Masque isn't so sure either.

(10 for initiative and 78(yellow) for the 'demonsteed' summoning. The
damage I am not sure how that works as I do not know the stats for the
horse's.
and finally a 21(white aka nothing) for the dodge. Lets just hope my
shield works like its supposed to)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 07 Sep 1999 11:21:15 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"What he heck do you mean strike the 'Key'.  Strike the 'Key' where, with
what."  As Stone Cold starts to smack the key with his hand as if it were a
busted radio.  (OCC: If that doesn't work a few light taps against the
closest wall would be next.)  "Ok, 'Key' whatever you are used for now would
be a really good time to: LET ME KNOW!!!"

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 7 Sep 1999 12:15:52 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

Reaper jumps back as the horses explode onto the scene,
"Whoa, dude!" He cries.

He smiles, ruefully shaking his head, "Leave it to you to
bring out the surprise offensives!"

His eyes suddenly darken, as his arms raise out on either
side.  His mouth stretches into an evil grin...

He lets loose blasts of electrically charged ions from the
balls of energy surrounding his fists.

(Rolls...88, 12, 95)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sat, 11 Sep 1999 20:54:26 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

"Did you not hear me, you fools!?  Prepare to die--ack!"  The man on the
turbo-fan powered hover platform betrays an utter visage of surprise as
you unleash your veritable tidal wave of demonic, flying horses upon him
and his vaunted high tech toys.

The extraplanar beasts trample the man in mid-air, even as your masque
overheats, Masque.  You feel the raw power of this strange summoning
overwhelming the mere materials of your trademark mystical artifact...
it feels uncomfortably warm on your face, its blue glow turning orange.

Right after that, you dive for the ground as you make your shots, Jinx.
You give off a single blast with one, and a full auto burst with
another, the last of which goes wild as the man falls from his
hover-platform, being so beset by a wave of spectral equines.

Of course, now you're covered in sewer muck.

After that volley of magnetically accelerated death flies by, Rebound,
you reach out with your sticky strands of goo, striking this villain's
flight platform in the night lamps, and causing it to go down in a
spectacular shower of sparks and smoke.

Just then, you fire your bolts of ionic energy at this fool, Reaper, but
to no avail; he simply laughs off your ionic assault.  "Ha ha ha!  Fool!
Your paltry electronic energies are nothing before the power absorbing
belt I wear around my waist!  Prepare to receive your own power bolts!!"

Before you can react, that friend of Rebound's, Ken, leaps over you and
Masque's head, and punches the man square in the stomach.  He knocks the
villain a good fifty feet down the tunnel, into the muck and darkness
beyond.  However, you can see him sparkling in the distance.

"Hah!", says Ken, mocking the man he repulsed so.  "So much for your
so-called power belt!"  He waves his fist at the electrical sparking in
the distance, as if challenging it to do something about his deed.  Then
you hear him talking out there, laughing still.

"Well, well, well!  What have we HERE?!"  Then, you hear a sort of
'thunk' sound, and then a dull rumbling in the distance.  Closer by, you
can see him returning, that electrical arcing bobbing up and down as
though he were quickly approaching your position.

Meanwhile, back in the other tunnel, you continue to yell at the Stellar
Key, Stone Cold, but to no effect.  Even hitting it against the walls of
the tunnel you currently occupy doesn't stop its pulsating energies from
concentrating, and when the Key hits its apex, things change yet again.

You see yet another blinding flash of light, and those three excess
heroes you all picked up fade from view, leaving nothing but empty air
in their wake.  However, you do hear that one who called himself Trouble
say something akin to "Bummer!".

When the light fades, the only source of illumination left in these
tunnels are Reaper's ionic glow and, of course, the small sparkling
given off by that high tech boob's ruined (?) power belt.  So, now that
things are getting even more interesting, what do you all do?

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sun, 12 Sep 1999 01:56:06 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx is very thankful for the probability field that shimmers around her
form, allowing the sewer muck to slew off of her.

"Damnit! I didn't even need to jump into all of this shit!" she
complains loudly to noone in particular.

Then she notices the bobbing approach of Morbius and sets herself to
reloading the gun she used at full auto, popping the clip in quickly and
methodically while keeping an eye on their enemy.

Noticing that they are now bathed in darkness, she pulls down her IR
Goggles, hopping to get a better target.

"Alright you bastard, come to momma."

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sun, 12 Sep 1999 02:01:02 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> The extraplanar beasts trample the man in mid-air, even as your masque
> overheats, Masque.  You feel the raw power of this strange summoning
> overwhelming the mere materials of your trademark mystical artifact...
> it feels uncomfortably warm on your face, its blue glow turning orange.

"Oops!"
Masque quickly send the horses back to their little home away from here.
"Sorry."
And Sets up a web work of Bands in the tunnel. In front of the oncoming
"bad guy". In an effort to entangle him some and stop him.

(initiative, if necessary, 11; A dodge roll, just in case (shield is
still up), 48 green, and the bands maneuver, 76 and I am not sure how
you figure out what to use for the accomplishment of that since I am
just putting them up in the tunnel and not aiming for a particular
thing, although I do want to put them as close to him as I can so asa to
give him a limited reaction time, I DO want him to run into them.)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Sun, 12 Sep 1999 22:44:53 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>You see yet another blinding flash of light, and those three excess
>heroes you all picked up fade from view, leaving nothing but empty air in
>their wake.  However, you do hear that one who called himself Trouble say
>something akin to "Bummer!".

Ronin lets out a loud oath in Japanese as the others disappear into
nothingness.

>When the light fades, the only source of illumination left in these
>tunnels are Reaper's ionic glow and, of course, the small sparkling
>given off by that high tech boob's ruined (?) power belt.  So, now that
>things are getting even more interesting, what do you all do?

Focusing on the battle at hand, Ronin draws his blade.  Feeling the power of
the tempered steel, he steels himself for the battle to come.

"This is it! Let us finish what has begun!" he vows to the others.

Ronin will wait until the Technomage is in range.  Then, in true samuari
fashion, he'll rush towards him, blade held high for a sweeping cut. Then he
will attempt to slice and dice that jerk like a ginsu knife.

Rolls -  4 init; 77, 65, 95, 75

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 13 Sep 1999 12:25:08 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

Stone Cold again trys to focus the Keys' energy.  This time trying, reach
out to the key with his mind (no powers)  'Think, its a 'STELLAR' Key.  Roll
(78, 65, 92)

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 13 Sep 1999 08:50:04 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

Rebound uses his stickiness to run up the wall and stand on the ceiling
facing the approaching villain with a cocked fist. (Roll: 81)

"Bring it on technoboy...bring it on!"

He'll wait until the villain gets into swinging range and let him have it
(hopefully) from an unexpected direction. (Init:6, Hit roll: 45, Dam: 50,
nobody's given him a reason to dodge yet...so any extra rolls required...56,
88, 15)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 14 Sep 1999 17:20:14 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> Prepare to receive your own power bolts!!"

Reaper moves as if to say something when -

> (snippity snip snip)

Reaper whips around, trying to make sure they were truly
alone again, then stands upright.  He takes a deep breath,
then as he exhales the ionization glow fades, as well as
the deep silver marks on his skin, until he appears normal
again...

He walks over to the ruined (?) power belt, poking it with
his foot curiously, "This little thing reflects my power?"
he asks dubiously...

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Fri, 17 Sep 1999 01:57:12 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

As you reload your weaponry, Jinx, the others close with the high techie
running down the drainage tunnel towards you in a rage.  First to act is
Masque, weaving his web of mystical bands throughout the tunnel in an
almost invisible fashion, being that it is so dark down here.

As Rebound and Ronin advance on the villain, he stops abruptly in the
middle of the tunnel, as though he were caught in some sort of net.
Just then, you strike him, Rebound, nailing him upside the head with
your fist before he even notes your presence.

Similarly, as he reels from this blow, you give him a good slice with
your blade, Ronin, and give him a nasty gash diagonally down his torso,
severing the sparking power belt he was bragging about mere moments ago.
After you step back, he's still hanging there in mid-air, bleeding.

And quite unconscious.

Stepping up to the man, Reaper, you pick up the destroyed belt, and you
see the words "Evilectric Power Siphon 5000" etched on it, with what
looks like some sort of laser torch.  Of course, the thing's all busted
up, and arcing mightily, but it doesn't seem totally totalled.

"Harrumph!"  That, of course, was Och, who didn't make it to the scene
of the carnage until it was over.  "And here I was, hoping to get into a
decent scrap.  This was Morbis, you guys say?  He seemed like something
of a cream puff, if you ask me."

"Nope, that's not him."  Tammy, having wandered up towards the bleeding
villain, gives him an eyefull.  "I saw Morbis back in the past, and this
isn't him.  No gnarly staff, no skunky hairdo, no skull-motif magic
armor.  No, this looks like his goofy, pink-skinned flunkies."

Looking at the guy, Rebound, you see that this guy is, in fact, quite
similar to the fellow you ran into last time you entered the tunnels.
You're not sure if this is him, for sure, as it was rather dark then
(and is now), but the resemblance is there.

Meanwhile, back around the corner, you work on the Key with the power of
your mind, Stone Cold, and after straining your brain against the
weighty metaphysical mass of the Key, it glows.  Not the burning,
overpowering glow that burnt your pants, but a glow nonetheless.

As you do so, Ahom looks at you curiously.  "Interesting.  You seem to
have accessed the Key's power, Stone Cold.  I think you may have
neutralized the influence that Morbis was applying to it.  I think he
was trying to confuse us with those reality blurring effects..."

"I think.  However, I - eh?"  Ahom stops short, and a second or two
later, you hear why.  There's a low rumbling all around you, slowly
gaining in intensity.  Then you hear it.  The sound of running water, in
great quantities, coming right towards you!

Just then, the bleeding villain wakes up before you all, still held up
by the power of Masque's mystic bands, and starts laughing.  "Hah hah
hah!  Didn't any of you want to know what I was doing after your strong
friend there knocked me back into the tunnels!  Flood gate!  Ha ha ha!!"

Before any of you can react, you all feel the overwhelming rush of water
hit you like a runaway freight train.  Dragged this way and that by the
fetid currents around you, what do you do to keep afloat, much less
prevent yourselves from drowning?!

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Fri, 17 Sep 1999 12:25:26 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

Now this is something that I know something about."  Focusing toward the
direction of the on rushing water,  Stone Cold tries a flash freeze to form
a wall.  To allow everyone, run and get out and continue to form a barrier
as we are all trying to get away. (89, 73, 98, 34)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Fri, 17 Sep 1999 18:37:14 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

Reaper tosses it back to the ground, "don't look like much
from here..." he mumbles.

> (snippity snip snip)

Reaper leaps back, catching the wave in the chest..
He dimly hears Stone Cold say something...to the key?...

In the meantime, he reaches for Silhouette, while trying to
surround his body (except for the hand reaching for her) in
a 'disintegration field' to ward off the fetid water...

OOC-
Rolls: 76, 45, 45

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 20 Sep 1999 09:21:14 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

 (Stupid Floyd...been out of action for a few)

Rebound sucks in a huge pair of lungfulls of air and tries to ride out the
wave as best he can.  If things really start to look bad, he'll blow a hole
in the ceiling and hope the debris stops the flood or lets in some air.

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 20 Sep 1999 14:36:27 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>Before any of you can react, you all feel the overwhelming rush of water
>hit you like a runaway freight train.  Dragged this way and that by the
>fetid currents around you, what do you do to keep afloat, much less prevent
>yourselves from drowning?!

Ronin is swept away by the tide like a twig as the force of the wave dashes
him about, helpless.  Amazingly, he still managed to keep hold of his blade
which seemed to almost hold to him as he held to it.

Acting desperately, Ronin grabs the handle and tries to thrust it into  the
nearest wall or available wedge he can find.  What did he have to loose?

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 21 Sep 1999 20:29:25 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx "Acks!" quite nicely as she pulls her field in as tightly as
possible so as to keep the fetid waters from her body and flesh, holding
her breath, and attempting to maintain her orientation by swimming with
the torrent of water.

Once she feels that she is somewhat more in control of her movement,
she'll do her best to see if she is approaching any projections or
ladders that may lead to higher levels of the sewer.

[OOC: 91 Stamina Roll to hold breath, 64 Perception to spot useful
things, 68 for Dexterity to grab anything, 58 Strength to hold on.]

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 27 Sep 1999 16:47:21 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

The decrepit flow of water strikes the lot of you, washing you all down
the extra large tunnel some.  Stone Cold actually manages to stop the
flow considerably, though the intense cold he generates leaves you all
at least partially frozen in frozen ice water.

Though the prospect is rather disguisting, it at least keeps you from
actually drowning in the stuff.  Another disturbing fact is that, after
the flow of icky sewage slush stops completely, the lot of you notice
that there are fewer of you here.

Taking a quick head count, you can see that Och, Silhouette, and even
Ahom have vanished in the mayhem that Morbis' minion, who is still
hanging there suspended on Masque's mystic bands, has caused.  Of
course, the fact is that you've at least got him.

And even if the fool is unwilling to talk, you can reasonably guess just
what direction he came from, as he never appeared until you turned that
last corner.  So, I guess the big question is where do you go from here?
How (if you do) do you continue your hunt for Morbis?

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 27 Sep 1999 18:42:20 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> And even if the fool is unwilling to talk, you can reasonably guess just
> what direction he came from, as he never appeared until you turned that
> last corner.  So, I guess the big question is where do you go from here?
> How (if you do) do you continue your hunt for Morbis?

"All right, that's IT!!!   I'm really pissed now.  You are going to die a
horrible, bloody death, you chunk of pink meat!"

Rebound makes his way over to the suspended minion and when he gets close
enough, tosses a strand at the biggest piece of technological equipment that
the joker has left.

"Start talking...or start praying...your choice...the clock is ticking."

"5"

"4"

"3"

"2"

"1"

(If he hasn't talked by now, oh well, time to up the ante...)

"Boom"    -    Rebound lets the strand explode against the technogear
(shouldn't be much more than "typical"...

Rolls:   (Init: 7,  Hit: 78,  Dam:  27, anything else:  08, 44, 92)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:53:49 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"So were short 3, let go headhunting.  Anyone got any ideas?  If not I say
we follow gumby's lead and trail him back the direction he came from.  Let's
posse up!"  Says Stone Cold.

Subject: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 28 Sep 1999 11:50:46 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"So were short 3, let go headhunting.  Anyone got any ideas?  If not I say
>we follow gumby's lead and trail him back the direction he came from.
>Let's posse up!"  Says Stone Cold.

"It would be better if we continue onward with our mission.  Should we fail,
then our comrades are as good as dead anyway.  If we succeed, then their
deaths will not have been in vain."

Ronin's tone is very matter of fact.

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 28 Sep 1999 15:58:46 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"Are you kidding?  So that their deaths won't have been in vain!  This is
not some samarai movie, where death is honorable to living to fight another
day.  These are people with lives, buddy.  So we either find, Ahom and put
royal boot to his behind and we get our friends back there will be no
honorable death on this mission.  Cause Stone Cold said so."

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 28 Sep 1999 17:21:48 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx manages to pull herself from the depths of the tunnel, shaking
herself a bit to let the ooze slide off of her probability field.

She grumbles as she sloshes her way back to the group of "heroes".

"Damnit! That wasn't Morbis?! Crap!" she exclaims as she glares at the
minion hanging from Masque's bands.

"What the hell are we going to do now? I mean, I'm all for getting data
on our enemy and knowing what we're getting into, but Morbis definitely
has to know we're here and the more time we give him, the more time he
has to prepare."

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 28 Sep 1999 15:38:29 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

Reaper sinks to his knees, coughing and spitting, trying
very hard not to think about *what* he was coughing...

"Son of a b#tch!" He yells, "F#@%in SEWAGE!"

He slowly stands, anger burning deep inside him...

> Taking a quick head count, you can see that Och, Silhouette, and even Ahom 
> have vanished in the mayhem that Morbis' minion, who is still hanging there 
> suspended on Masque's mystic bands, has caused.  Of course, the fact is that 
> you've at least got him.

Reaper whirls around, anger turning to fear, fear turning
to rage (OOC: "...leads to suffering!")

"Sil?  SIL!!!" He yells.

> (snippity snip snip)

Reaper turns to the minion, eyes narrowing, jaw clenched...

He walks towards him, his arms out from his sides, and his
nostrils flaring...

"Where the -" He reaches out, seizing the floating man by
the throat, "HELL IS MY GIRLFRIEND?!?!?!"

The capacity to kill is less than inches from him...enough that he doesn't register the new title he just bestowed upon Sil.

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 28 Sep 1999 15:41:26 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

"Better listen to him, a$$hole!" Reaper says with dripping
malice, "He wants to kill you, and he didn't just lose the
only person he could say he may have loved..."

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 28 Sep 1999 15:51:26 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

"Yeah...hunting." Reaper hisses, still holding the man's neck.

(Presuming I made the grab - forgot to roll - 33, 48, 56)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 04 Oct 1999 18:36:08 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

As the two of you menace Morbis' thug, he starts coughing and
sputtering, spewing forth much from the flood he unleashed upon you all.
"Gack!  Hey... hey, thanks!  I might've died if you hadn't woke me up in
time to cough all that crud up.  'Preciate it!"

"Hah hah hah hah hah!"

As you glower, Reaper, Rebound, you hear somebody else drawing himself
forth from the frozen muck and mire.  It... looks like Masque, and it
sounds like Masque, but you're not sure.  After all, he's totally coated
in sludge and human detritus, so it's hard to tell for certain.

Meanwhile, Ken has decided that he agrees with both Jinx and Stone Cold.
"I don't see why we should even bother pussyfooting around with this
flunky.  After all, we blew up all of his stuff, so its not like he's
gonna be a problem.  And he's obviously not talking.  Look at him!"

When you do, you see the truly insane rage in his eyes, his abject
hatred of all of you simply because of your humanity.  "Yes.  Yes!  I'll
never help you!  I'll die if I have to, but I'll bring your precious
society down around your ears  - no matter the cost!!"

"Bah!  Screw this," says Ken.  "I'm heading out after Morbis.  You kids
do what'cha want, I'm getting tired of all this."  With that, Ken sets
out in the direction your strung-up playmate came from, lighting the way
with a sort of glow effect emanating from his power tattoo.

I guess the question is who goes with who?

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 04 Oct 1999 18:17:23 -0500
From:    William Lockwood <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx just glares at the flunky then notices Ken wandering off down the tunnel.

"Hey! Wait up! No ass kicking without me!" she hollers after him as she makes sure she has all of her stuff, jogging to try and catch him and the faint light he's casting.

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 05 Oct 1999 07:10:17 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

Ronin gives the others a hard look, particularly Stone Cold.
Without further comment, he follows after Ken and Jinx.

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 05 Oct 1999 12:25:13 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"Hold up Ken, Let's bounce you all.  Tammy you coming?  I still have some
issues to work out with this goon."  Walk past the henchman, hold back the
desire to plaster his face all along the wall.  -- Stone Cold.

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 5 Oct 1999 08:50:14 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

"So that's it?  We're going to walk in there without anything resembling a
plan, with no intelligence, having ZERO clue what we are up against, and not
even sure what each of us can do?!?!?   HELLO!!!   Do you think for a minute
that he doesn't know that we are coming?  He ambushed us here, what makes
you think he won't have something worse set up for us down the hall?"

With that said, Rebound waits a moment for any response...

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 5 Oct 1999 12:05:51 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>
 
> With that said, Rebound waits a moment for any response... 

"Maybe we'll just have to have something worse for *him*!" Reaper says, the thought of retribution putting a little light into his otherwise dull stare.

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 05 Oct 1999 13:16:38 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

"It doesn't sound that bad?  Like you said if he knows that were coming,
what difference does it make?  Just do the best you can with what you've
got."  Says Stone Cold.

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 5 Oct 1999 14:58:59 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

"Fine, let's go wax this loser.  Just you all be careful not to get too
close to me when it hits the fan, because I'll bring the whole world down on
his happy ass if it comes to it.  And you (pointing at Ronin) be sure to
shove that pig-sticker of yours so far up there, it'll be tickling his
taste-buds."

Rebound turns to join the group wondering if maybe, just maybe, he's finally
in over his head...

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 5 Oct 1999 11:46:30 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

Reaper's eyes narrow threateningly, "What the hell, if we off this bastard now - sounds like it'll just be doin' him a favor."

He looks around them at the sewers.  "Masque.  These handy little bonds you got this prick wrapped up in - can ya seal them to, say, the ground?  Make it so pudge-boy here can't even f*%kin move?"

He stares into the face of their captive, "Strap his ass to the floor...that way...when the people of this 'precious society' all take their communal 'just before bed' midnight crap...this little f*%k slowly drowns..."

He turns to walk away, "Your choice dumbass - you offed my girl, hurt my friends, not to mention threatened my whole dimension.  Think about that when you're gettin' shit on by the whole of this city - think about what you coulda done different."

His face seems to waver between relatively normal, and the intricate scar-pattern that covered his body the last time he used his power...

> (snippity Ken Connell stuff snip snip)

Reaper looks to Ken, "As weird as it seems, I'm with you man.  Just don't go shining all that damn power at me." He says with a wry grin, lowering his ionized sunglasses onto his face.

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Mon, 04 Oct 1999 19:43:05 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

If MAsque were a technomage, one might think he just short curcuited.

"Alright! Who is responsible for this. My robes are soiled, my beard is
soiled, and most of all my candy has been rendered inedible!"

HE looks at each and everyone of you with the eyes of a killer, or at
the least he thinks so. Then stops on Stone Cold.

"You, Freezerboy! Do you know how much those M&M's cost me?"

He falters for a moment.

"Because I forgot..."

> Meanwhile, Ken has decided that he agrees with both Jinx and Stone Cold.
> "I don't see why we should even bother pussyfooting around with this
> flunky.  After all, we blew up all of his stuff, so its not like he's
> gonna be a problem.  And he's obviously not talking.  Look at him!"

> When you do, you see the truly insane rage in his eyes, his abject
> hatred of all of you simply because of your humanity.  "Yes.  Yes!  I'll
> never help you!  I'll die if I have to, but I'll bring your precious
> society down around your ears  - no matter the cost!!"

Masque then snaps his head towards this cretin.

"AS for you!!..."

He strides towards the man, manipulates the bands to crush each and
everyone of what is left of his 'high-tech' devices and then spits on
the remains.

He then pulls out a pen and notebook from ..somewhere. And begins writng
on it. He then licks it and slaps it on the guy's forehead and if you
look closely enough it says:

                Dear Police,
                Put this guy in jail,
                He is a maladjusted individual
                who just tried to kill me and my friends.
                He is a bad man.
                Signed,
                Masque, Mage Extraordinare
                P.S. Sorry about the bruise on the back of his head.

And then Masque hits him on the back of his head , knocking him out.

He then pulls some rope from...somewhere. And binds the guy's hands and
feet and then banishes him to the steps of the last police station he
was at(Masque that is, he has been there, the police sometimes don't
like mages with Horses outta nowhere).

And with that he puts his hands together and says;

"Can you smell what the Masque is cookin'?!"

And follows Ken.

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 5 Oct 1999 11:51:25 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

Reaper's eyes widen, his brows furrowed in anger, "Not at ALL what I had in mind!"

His scar-pattern comes to the surface in incredible detail.

He shakes his head violently, then looks to the ceiling with his eyes closed.  He exhales long and hard, relaxing his shoulders until he almost seems slumped...the pattern fades to nothing.

A tear slowly rolls down his face.  "F*%k it..." he says softly, shaking his head, "won't bring her back anyhow..."

"whatever" he mutters, following Ken again.

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 05 Oct 1999 16:14:02 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

As Ken trudges on through the tunnel, he hears your little outburst,
Rebound, and turns to you.  "Well, you know we need a plan, and I know
we need a plan, but hey, I'm at a loss.  Like the man said, though, he
most likely knows we're here, so what can you do?"

"If you can think of something, great... but it beats me, man."

Before you can even respond to your partner, Rebound, Ken comes across a silver grate in the wall of the tunnel.  Not chrome, not steel, but
silver.  It has little holes in it like a manhole, but its mounted
vertically in the wall of the sewer tube.

Almost like a door.  The thing's even got some sort of hinge on top, and a nifty handly for easy lifting; well, easier, in that the thing looks to weigh over one hundred pounds.  Unless there's some other criminal mastermind living in these tunnels, this is most likely it.

"Well, we're apparently here, guys.  If you've got some kind of strategy or something, now'd be the time to give it up.  Otherwise, I'm going in there and flattening this guy before he kills any more of us.  Or you, at least.  Hm.  Well?"

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 5 Oct 1999 15:56:24 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>
 
> "Well, we're apparently here, guys.  If you've got some kind of strategy
> or something, now'd be the time to give it up.  Otherwise, I'm going in
> there and flattening this guy before he kills any more of us.  Or you,
> at least.  Hm.  Well?"
 
Rebound doesn't wait for a response from anyone else.

"If we don't have a plan, then let's use Navy Seals tactics...hit them with
everything under the sun and then fade away in the confusion..."

Without a second thought, Rebound charges through the opening ready to punch
through the first goon to get in his way.

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 5 Oct 1999 16:08:21 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>
 
(OK, forgot the dice and stuff...Init - 11, Hitroll - 71, Damroll - 80  Any
other needed rolls...06, 65, 53)

Then again, if there's nobody to smack around, all of that rolling is kinda
pointless...

Subject: RE: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 5 Oct 1999 17:24:01 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> Without a second thought, Rebound charges through the opening ready to punch
> through the first goon to get in his way.

Reaper blinks in surprise, then *phases* his ions, and runs in after him...

OOC:  Rolls - 94, 72, 11

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Tue, 05 Oct 1999 20:02:30 -0500
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx jogs forward until she catches up to Ken and finds the big silver
door. She surveys the scene for a moment, "hmmming and hawing" before
really speaking.

"Alright! Noone touch that damn door! It's probably booby trapped. Let's
keep casualties on our side to a minimum by keeping our heads. Anyone
here have any explosives that we can leave at the base of the door or
something that might take it out from a distance without bringing the
tunnel down on top of our heads while we hide out down that aways?" she
inquires, gesturing back the direction the group had travelled from.

"Reconnaissance would be even better. You, Masque, can you check out
that door with any of your tricks without setting off any
countermeasures Morbius might have established as a 'welcome' for our
arrival?" she specifically asks Masque before returning her attention to
the rest of the party.

"Or any of you guys? Reaper? Anyone?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Wed, 06 Oct 1999 03:43:02 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque looks at Jinx and simply says;

"I think it's too late for that, Our two friends seem to have gone in
a'blazin'."

But Masque throws up his shield and tries to Magic sense the door anyhow.

(just in case they rolled initiative, I deleted those posts already. A
clean computer is the sign of a dirty mind they say.  11 for initiative, and a 89 for the sensing deal, and absolutely nothing for a dodge, bad things can happen when doors are magicked in unwanted ways)

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Quest through Underyork
Date:    Fri, 08 Oct 1999 12:43:25 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"I think it's too late for that, Our two friends seem to have gone in
>a'blazin'."

>But Masque throws up his shield and tries to Magic sense the door anyhow.

Ronin edges next to Masque and Jinx.  He holds his sword at the ready.

"We shall be the next wave, should they fail."

Seeing Masque giving the door a weirdo look, he inquires:

"Do you sense anything, mage?"

Once Masque relays his findings, Ronin will give Jinx the 'let's go kick
major butt' warrior-type signal.

Subject: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 13 Oct 1999 00:03:40 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

                     (*** Hm... no Stone Cold? ***)

As you cast your spell, Masque, you can see the abject disdain on Jinx's
face as Rebound and Reaper blithely charge headlong into danger.  You
can practically feel the curses crossing her mind, but luckily the thing
doesn't blow up in all your faces.

And you detect no magic on the thing.  It's just a big silver door.

You all hear those two impulsive fellows, quickly followed by Rebound's
friend, Ken, running into the smaller tunnel behind the silver port-hole
hatch thingie.  They're running, and running, and running, and you hear
their footfalls getting more and more distant.

After running for about a minute, Rebound, Reaper, you and Ken finally
come to some sort of light.  Accelerating, you finally enter a throne
room, with a raised center holding, appropriately enough, a throne.
It's all covered in wires, control knobs, and circuitry.

Oh, and it's occupied.  Sitting atop the throne, looking down upon you
like the lower life forms he perceives you as, sits a tall man.  He has
black hair, with a sort of white stripe in the center.  He's also
wearing some sort of powered armor with a distinctly skull motif
throughout.

"Welcome to my humble abode.  I see that the lot of you have dealt with
my simpleton minion.  Of course, I assume that was because of the
weather control machinery that he was using to alter your global
climate.  It's right over there, in fact..."

The man motions over to his right (your left) and indicates a bank of
machinery that-a-way.  It's got all sorts of sparking doo-dads, vacuum
tubes sticking out of it and glowing warmly, cathode ray tube displays,
blinking lights, and of course, a high tech control panel.

"I assume that's the thing you want.  Smash it all up if you like, and
you can return your world's climate back to normal.  Or move it and use
it for yourselves, if you wish.  I have no use for this world, so do
with it as you will.  In fact, I am about to leave."

"The cosmos awaits me..."

With that, the man stands up and walks down the stairs, heading in the
opposite direction of that mad scientist style monstrosity.  Ahead of
him you can plainly see some sort of b-movie style, one-man rocket ship,
complete with flashy red fins and all that.

The question, then, is just what you all do about this.  He seems to be
bugging out from earth proper - unless that's just a ruse to get you to
leave.  And of course, he hasn't specifically said just who he is, even
if you can guess.  T'is all up to you...

Also, for those of you who stayed outside the door, do you follow your
ersatz allies into the darkness, as the sound of their footfalls has
ceased completely.  Were they slain, or simply stopped to check
something out.  What's up with you guys?

Subject: RE: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 13 Oct 1999 10:41:51 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> The question, then, is just what you all do about this.  He seems to be
> bugging out from earth proper - unless that's just a ruse to get you to
> leave.  And of course, he hasn't specifically said just who he is, even
> if you can guess.  T'is all up to you...

"Not so fast...nobody's going anywhere until we get some answers..."

Rebound will launch a full spread at the "rocketship" and see just how
volatile it's fuel is as he detonates them. (Rolls: Init: 5, Hit: 83, Dam:
93, any other rolls: 02,11,14,27...methinks I need some new dice!)

As the ship explodes (if it does), Rebound stands his ground allowing
various bits of shrapnel bounce off his body...


Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 12:33:18 GMT
From: "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

OCC: I thought that I had replied but, I guess that it didn't get through.

IC:  Pulling up the rear and searching for anything out of the ordinary.
When he comes upon the throne, he instinctively asks: "And whom might you
be?"  Still holding the key trying to focus its power to locate the missing
people within the group.

Stone Cold -- Always here, unless I die of course then I won't be here. :)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 13 Oct 1999 18:23:53 -0500
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx shrugs when she realizes that the door is not trapped.

"Oh well, this whole thing still feels like a trap," she muttered to
herself as she nodded to Ronin and began the trek down the tunnel, doing
her best to catch up to Ken, Rebound, and Reaper.

The urge to keep herself safe overwhelmed her desire to know what was
coming to utterly destroy them so she pulled her probability field in
tightly, hoping it would deflect any problems they might run into on the
way to the end of the tunnel.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 13 Oct 1999 21:40:18 -0500
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

> "Oh well, this whole thing still feels like a trap," she muttered to herself 
> as she nodded to Ronin and began the trek down the tunnel, doing her best to 
> catch up to Ken, Rebound, and Reaper.

Masque stops his magicking and runs to catch up with Jinx and Ronin...

"Wait for me, wait for me!"

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 14 Oct 1999 00:02:06 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"Oh well, this whole thing still feels like a trap," she muttered to
>herself as she nodded to Ronin and began the trek down the tunnel, doing
>her best to catch up to Ken, Rebound, and Reaper.

"I agree" replies Ronin, "...though it seems we have little choice now."
He follows closely behind Jinx.

>The urge to keep herself safe overwhelmed her desire to know what was
>coming to utterly destroy them so she pulled her probability field in
>tightly, hoping it would deflect any problems they might run into on the
>way to the end of the tunnel.

As he and Jinx arrive at the throne room, Ronin puts a hand on his
companions shoulder to get her attention.  He whispers to her in a low tone.

"Let us hang back a bit.  We just may need the element of surprise seeing as
our comrades-in-arms have already blundered in blindly.  We will move when
the time is right."

Subject: RE: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 14 Oct 1999 11:06:21 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> As the ship explodes (if it does), Rebound stands his
> ground allowing various bits of shrapnel bounce off his body...


Reaper moves to place himself between the 'man on the
throne' and the machine he claimed controlls the weather.

The debris from the exploding ship presumably passing
through him.

His eyes flash as the lines on his body seem to glow with a
silver light.  He watches the 'man on the throne' for his response...

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 14 Oct 1999 19:35:07 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

'Focusing on the key, please I need power to help save us all.  He is evil
an d must be destoryed' (focusing, focusing)  Ice blast: Roll 99, 72, 45,
94, 65.  Stone Cold.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 14 Oct 1999 15:02:36 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

You launch several of your strands of sticky goo at the stylized space
craft, Rebound, and inwardly smile as the thing falls apart.  It doesn't
give you the spectacular explosion you would've liked, but it
nonetheless tips over and breaks in a sufficiently chaotic way.

Bits and pieces of the craft do fall off and bounce your way, but they
jump off of you in an explosive fashion, and merely pass right through
yer pal Reaper, there.  The fellow with the armor on appears to be on
the verge of saying something when Stone Cold speaks up.

Upon hearing that voice, the guy stops cold, and turns with what you can
only describe as raw, calculated malice.  When you see that evil glare
in his face, Stone Cold, you can't help but recognize him as that mad
technomage you met over twenty thousand years in the past.

"Oh, drat.  It looks like I'll have to be staying here, on earth.  I
suppose it's a good thing that you all brought me so many gifts, then."
He looks at you, Stone Cold, then Reaper.  "Such precious gifts, even.
Like the Stellar Key you hold - and that one-of-a-kind Infinitum."

His grin spreads infectiously, appearing to be an almost ear to ear
affair.  "Oh, and I forgot the most precious gift of all - my piata!!"
Motioning up in the air, you can see the form of Ahom, suspended from
the ceiling over the techno-throne and bound with lines of raw force.

"I really must thank you all for bringing him into my sphere of power.
After all, he's nothing but a madman with dreams of world domination,
and you know, somebody had to stop him.  I guess that it simply had to
be me, even though I was planning on leaving..."

With a wave of his hand, the chain holding Ahom up from the ceiling
lowers him to about six feet off the ground, and Morbis takes an
experimental swing at it with his staff, which he apparenly just
summoned from thin air.  Whack.  Ahom says nothing as this happens.

Of course, he's been gagged, so that could be why.

"Again, thank you for the gifts and all, but I really must be getting
back to work.  After all, you ruined my ship, so I'm going to be stuck
here for at least another month or so while I repair the thing.  Shall I
show you out?"

He motions towards the door, waiting for some sort of response from the
lot of you.  As he waits, the fellow simply looks from Rebound, to
Reaper, to Stone Cold, to Ken, as if in an attempt to guess your
thoughts.  He doesn't seem to have noticed you others, yet.

What do you do next?

Subject: RE: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 14 Oct 1999 17:38:57 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> He motions towards the door, waiting for some sort of response from the
> lot of you.  As he waits, the fellow simply looks from Rebound, to
> Reaper, to Stone Cold, to Ken, as if in an attempt to guess your
> thoughts.  He doesn't seem to have noticed you others, yet.

> What do you do next?

"You self-righteous, arrogant loser.  Do you have any idea what you have set
into motion here?"

Rebound pauses for a moment as if waiting for the buffoon to respond
before...

<IT'S POWER STUNT TIME!!!!!>

Rebound launches himself at the ground trying to get a solid enough
explosive bounce to project him forcibly into the ceiling (and any
equipment) directly over where Ahom is held captive. This should  blow
whatever is holding Ahom captive to a shower of glowing sparks...or just be
a really stupid move...

Rolls: Init: 10, Hit(bounce): 78+22 karma =100, Dam: 62, Kinda hard to dodge
when you are bouncing off of the walls... Any other rolls:75, 52, 65, 15.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 14 Oct 1999 14:46:20 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> "Oh, drat.  It looks like I'll have to be staying here, on earth.  I suppose 
> it's a good thing that you all brought me so many gifts, then."  He looks at 
> you, Stone Cold, then Reaper.  "Such precious gifts, even. Like the Stellar 
> Key you hold - and that one-of-a-kind Infinitum."

Reaper's eyebrow arches in a distinct 'Oh really?'..

> His grin spreads infectiously, appearing to be an almost ear to ear
> affair.  "Oh, and I forgot the most precious gift of all - my piata!!"
> Motioning up in the air, you can see the form of Ahom, suspended from
> the ceiling over the techno-throne and bound with lines of raw force.

Reaper's eyes slowly track upward, "Ah hell..." he mutters.

> "Again, thank you for the gifts and all, but I really must be getting
> back to work.  After all, you ruined my ship, so I'm going to be stuck
> here for at least another month or so while I repair the thing.  Shall I
> show you out?"

> He motions towards the door, waiting for some sort of response from the
> lot of you.  As he waits, the fellow simply looks from Rebound, to
> Reaper, to Stone Cold, to Ken, as if in an attempt to guess your
> thoughts.  He doesn't seem to have noticed you others, yet.

> What do you do next?

Reaper turns from seeing Ahom hanging from the ceiling to the strange man.

"Not like me an' ol' Ahom were close, but still...you're f*#kin' with the wrong group o'people here!"

Reaper unleashes electric bolts at the man, looking for some way to overload/short out the electronics on him.

OOC:

Rolls - 72, 12, 08

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 14 Oct 1999 18:06:50 -0500
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx slows her approach as they enter the throne room, holding back as Ronin has suggested.

She doesn't say a word, just nodding slightly while surveying the situation.

Noticing that Morbis appears to be getting antsy, she draws one of her mag cannons and assumes a kneeling position, taking aim at his head. Breathing deeply and steadily as she prepares to take a shot if necessary.

[OOC: 87 to take aim (that's all I'm doing for the round).]

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 25 Oct 1999 03:26:56 -0500
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

                     (Hm.  No Masque, no Ronin...)

It looks really impressive, really, it does.  You all see Rebound jump
up into the air as if he were going to squish a particularly creepy bug,
and when he hits the ground, a massive explosion issues forth from his
feet, like he were using the grand-daddy of all jump jets.

He blasts off into the air at reckless speed, and flings himself into
the line of force holding the mage Ahom suspended over Morbis' throne of
technology.  He crashes into the ceiling and then, thanks to the sticky
secretions lining his skin, he explodes off once more.

He kind of appears to be something akin to an extremely explosive
pinball all of a sudden.  Meanwhile, you let loose with your barrage of
ice, Stoney, encasing the technomancer in an impressive block of ice as
you simultaneously shove him into the remains of his spacecraft.

As he pours the ice on, Reaper, you gain an unparalleled easy shot at
the guy, since you can still make out the outline of his high tech
armor, what with its black highlights and all of those superfluous
proturbences.  You seem to electrify him mightily.

Meanwhile, those of you covering the others at the entranceway to
Morbis' lair see that Ahom has indeed fallen from the ceiling, though
the lines of mystical force that bind him seem to be intact.  After
rolling to a halt at the base of Morbis' stairs, he lies motionless.

But he seems to be breathing, despite that impressive tumble.

Before you can do anything, however, you see an overpowering glow coming
from the ice that is containing Morbis.  The mound of frozen water
explodes violently under Morbis' assault, and once the glare recedes
from your retinas, you all see that he is fully intact.

And glowering.  "Fools!  Ignorant savages!!  Do you really believe that
you can dispose of me so easily?  I just rebuilt my very body from
nothingness - after a twenty thousand year exile imposed upon me by your
ally, Ahom, and I'm not about to be defeated by the likes of YOU!"

Morbis waves his hands and utters syllables incomprehensible to all of
you save Masque; you can hear the language of magic, Masque, though it
is tainted with the theorems of science.  Once he completes his spell,
Morbis' eyes glow with a sinister aspect, and the very room trembles!

At first, it would appear that you are at the epicenter of an earthquake
or some similar disturbance, but as you look closer, you can see the
very surfaces of this chamber rippling, writhing, and taking forms more
suitable for combat - combat with you all!

Hordes of robotic tentacles, implements of pain, and other assorted
monstrosities weave their shapes from the very chamber around you all,
and throw themselves upon you with reckless abandon, following the will
of their dread creator, Morbis.

And they have murder in their optic sensors.

The tentacles pour over you in a wave of animate steel, Stone Cold, and
begin to chip away at your frigid exterior.  They don't quite do any
damage to you yet, but they are managing to hold you somewhat in place,
having collectively achieved a partial grapple upon you.

Unfortunately, it would appear that a diamond-tipped buzz-saw is heading
for you, now that your mobility is limited.

Reaper, the tidal wave of robotic horrors washes clean through your
ionically phased body, shorting themselves into inactivity as they do
so.  However, seemingly sensing their inability to touch you, the
machines transform some of their number into focused sonic emitters.

Striking you with a barrage of harmful vibratory frequencies, the many
robotic beasties manage to bring you to your knees (and inflict
Excellent (20) Energy damage to your person after your defenses).

The machines then let into Ken, bludgeoning him mercilessly and striking
him with a barrage of cutting laser beams.  The only effect these
attacks have is to tear up the remnants of his uniform, as thanks to the
power of his Star Brand, he's immune to such pedestrian assault.

However, the robots seem to get wise to this, and they switch tactics.
Before he can lash out at them in turn, they wrap around him in a
writhing miasma of snake-like movements, attempting to squeeze the very
air from his lungs!

Rebound, the wave of mechanical monstrosities seem to have some trouble
getting ahold of you, as they can't quite seem to nail down where you're
at - but then, you have no clue where you're going, as you're bouncing
explosively around the room, taking machinery out left and right.

Suddenly, however, you feel yourself slow down, as if you were being
held by some sort of tractor beam.  Looking around, you realize that
this is, indeed, the case, and when you find its source, you're not too
happy.  It's got big mechanical jaws, and it's pulling you closer...

At the entrance to this hovel of horror, you see the robotic menaces
creeping closer to you all, Masque, Ronin, Jinx.  I know that you were
waiting for your perfect shot, Jinx, and you seem to have a bead on the
author of your misery.  But what do you others do?

In fact, what do all of you do, in fact??

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 25 Oct 1999 07:44:28 EDT
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>                      (Hm.  No Masque, no Ronin...)

(OOC - Sat out that round to watch.  Sorry I did. *frown* )

>And glowering.  "Fools!  Ignorant savages!!  Do you really believe that you
>can dispose of me so easily?  I just rebuilt my very body from nothingness
>- after a twenty thousand year exile imposed upon me by your ally, Ahom,
>and I'm not about to be defeated by the likes of YOU!"

(Snip)

>At the entrance to this hovel of horror, you see the robotic menaces
>creeping closer to you all, Masque, Ronin, Jinx.  I know that you were
>waiting for your perfect shot, Jinx, and you seem to have a bead on the
>author of your misery.  But what do you others do?

>In fact, what do all of you do, in fact??

Ronin turns to Jinx and the Magician. "Not a good turn of events" he replies
matter-of-factly.  "Jinx, cover the Wizard.  Sorcerer, see if you can
counter-act this enchantment."

Having said that, Ronin hefts the Thundercutter and dashes forth to battle.
In true ginsu, chop 'em up and hack 'em down style, Ronin will slice and
dice and puree mechanical menaces left, right and center.  If he can, he
will make his way towards the technomage and end his miserable existence
forever.

Rolls - 97 (thank you dice!) for the multiple attack; 89, 68, & 72 for the
feats and 48, 16, & 78 for incidentals.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 25 Oct 1999 13:18:06 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

Stretching his stone arm out of shape he uses it to blast the robot away in
a rocket like fashion in hopes of getting free.  "You blasted key, help me."
(roll, 99, 86, 33, 67,22)  Stone Cold

Subject: RE: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 25 Oct 1999 09:25:44 -0400
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> Rebound, the wave of mechanical monstrosities seem to have some trouble
> getting ahold of you, as they can't quite seem to nail down where you're
> at - but then, you have no clue where you're going, as you're bouncing
> explosively around the room, taking machinery out left and right.

> Suddenly, however, you feel yourself slow down, as if you were being
> held by some sort of tractor beam.  Looking around, you realize that
> this is, indeed, the case, and when you find its source, you're not too
> happy.  It's got big mechanical jaws, and it's pulling you closer...

Yikes...

Fully confident in his ability to withstand the 'jaws of death' (i.e.
arrogant), Rebound twists so that he can see Morbius and launches a full
spread at his back (hopefully).  He will play tug of war with the tractor
beam until either he AND Morbius are dragged into the jaws, or Morbius tries
to sever the strands.  If the latter, Rebound will detonate the strands with
as much force as he can muster; if the former, Rebound will try to make sure
that Morbius is the first to meet the jaws.

Rolls: (Init:6 Hit: 74, Dam: 90, Str: 75, Others: 67, 34, 42)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 25 Oct 1999 15:31:40 -0700 (PDT)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> And glowering.  "Fools!  Ignorant savages!!  Do you really believe that
> you can dispose of me so easily?  I just rebuilt my very body from
> nothingness - after a twenty thousand year exile imposed upon me by your
> ally, Ahom, and I'm not about to be defeated by the likes of YOU!"

"It seems as if..."Reaper begins, head turning to try to
anticipate an attack, "you've had entirely too much free
time on your hands..."

> Reaper, the tidal wave of robotic horrors washes clean through your
> ionically phased body, shorting themselves into inactivity as they do
> so.  However, seemingly sensing their inability to touch you, the
> machines transform some of their number into focused sonic emitters.
>
> Striking you with a barrage of harmful vibratory frequencies, the many
> robotic beasties manage to bring you to your knees (and inflict
> Excellent (20) Energy damage to your person after your defenses).

Reaper recoils back and forth, tossed by the waves...  His jaw clenches with the pain, his eyes narrowing in anger..

"...clever..." he mutters at the machines.  He pulls the ions around him into a swirling vortex of electrical energy, trying to reach out and strike the
oncoming 'beasties'.

OOC:
Rolls - 59, 85, 30

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 28 Oct 1999 14:42:53 -0500
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

As Ronin charges into the fray, Jinx takes one last breath before laying
into Morbius' skull with a full auto stream from her well-aimed mag cannon.

~God, I hope this does /something/!~ she thought to herself as she pulled the trigger, bracing herself for the roar and kick of the heavy pistol.

Once she had the shot off, she didn't stick around to see the results,
but rather rolled for cover behind the nearest outcropping of stone to
avoid any counter attacks.

[OOC: 93 to Hit, 76 plus 20 Karma = 96 for Damage, 70 plus 20 Karma = 90
for a Dodge (thank you dice!)]

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Sun, 31 Oct 1999 19:54:22 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque yipes!

Seeing that his two compatriates have left him, he scrambles to his
feet.

"Fine fine fine".  He waves his hands from a safe distance. He throws up his shield and waves his hands some more.

Attempting to banish Morbis to another dimension, one of light or something like that.  Rolling a 44 (green, excellent intensity), he attempts to send him on his merry way)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 01 Nov 1999 16:07:00 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

With the battle picking up in intensity, you yank on the stickystrand
threads you attached to Morbis, Rebound, and actually manage to haul him
up into the air with you.  The technomage seems nonplussed at this,
however, merely grinning as he approaches you.

"Fool!  My robotic minions will make short work of you.  Behold!  Those
jaws are fashioned of refined Osmium steel!  Even your paltry ablative
secretions cannot save you now!  Ha ha ha ha ha!"  With that, Morbis
grapples you, attempting to thrust you into the Jaws of Doom (TM).

Unfortunately for him, Jinx got her bead on his cranium just then, and
fired a full-clip blast from her mag-cannon.  You see Morbis' head pop
like a dropped melon, spraying you with all manner of organic matter
that was formerly his brilliant, if twisted brain.

Of course, the bullets also hit you, as well, though your stickyskin
secretions save you from some of their rail-gun accelerated impact.
Some.  After your defense, Jinx inadvertently causes you Remarkable (30)
Shooting damage.  But then, she didn't expect him to be on top of you.

Luckily, the impact of the bullets set off quite an explosion from your
stickyskin, causing you to careen away from the Jaws of Doom (TM) even
as they draw the limp, lifeless form of Morbis into their great maw,
rending his flesh up into Ground Morbis.

At this point, Masque makes use of his banishment abilities, and since
nobody's currently home in Morbis' shell, the mage manages to send the
technomage's body off into some unknown, random other plane of reality.
His spell even cleared the Morbis-goo off of you, Rebound.

However, though the mage seems to be dealt with, his robotic creations
continue to fight on.  As such, Reaper, you are forced to suffer even
more damage to your auditory nerves thanks to these screeching robotic
sound emitters.

Despite the pain, you feel as though you are able to draw forth every
last free-roaming ion within tens of yards of your person, and focusing
them into a single, coherent blast, you detonate with a burst of
electricity that sends your non-living assailants to pieces!

As the smoke clears from your grenade-like burst of power, Reaper, you
see Ronin making his way towards you.  He's fighting like a demon,
slashing this way and that, striking a robotic tentacle or buzz-saw or
laser emitter with each fluid strike.

It's almost like watching an action film, really, in that he tags two or
three of them in a single swipe, while deftly avoiding injury to his own
person as they retaliate.  By the time he reaches you, there are few
robots left on the floor, and he's hardly broken a sweat!

Before you can say anything, however, a bundle of writhing tentacular
robotic mass falls before your feet, squirming as though it were
struggling with something within.  Just then, you see a hand thrust
through one of the tentacle's steel frame.

It's got a tattoo on it.  Though Ronin is able to look on, your
reflexively turn your head as Ken Connell lets loose with the power of
his Star Brand, and by the time you turn back, you see that he has
completely vaporized his assailants.  He smiles at that.

Meanwhile, as the rest of other robots get mopped up by the others, you
piston your arm out at the diamond-tipped buzz-saw that was threatening
to cleave you in two, Stone Cold.  It goes down in a shower of sparks,
but the writhing robotic arms around you continue to hold you.

Just then, the Stellar Key begins to rise from your hand, right after
you implore it to help you, but before it can do anything, those
prosthetic limbs holding you get yanked off like so many pillows, and
you see behind you that Tammy is responsible for this.

However, before you can thank her for extricating you from that mess,
the Stellar Key up and fires on you!  Despite your potent resistance to
injury, the force that attacked you is mystical in nature; as such, it
affects you rather adversely.

Itself a Monstrous (75) Sorcerous attack, the blast manages to cause you
69 points of damage (after your decreased armor versus magical assault).
This is enough to knock even you to the ground, and as you try to rally,
you hear mad laughter coming from the Key.

It is in the key of Morbis.  "Savages!  Did you really think that by
merely destroying my physical body that you could defeat me?!  I can
always replace that, but for now, I can simply reside within my greatest
creation, the Stellar Key!!  Mu Hu Ha Ha Ha!!!  Prepare to die!!!!"

The key begins to pulsate with dangerous energies, its light filling the
remnants of this chamber, reflecting off the broken bits of robot with
reckless cheer despite the gravity of the situation.  So now, it would
appear that the battle has changed into a war with an ancient artifact.

What do you lot do now?

Subject: RE: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 1 Nov 1999 16:34:39 -0500
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

> The key begins to pulsate with dangerous energies, its light filling the
> remnants of this chamber, reflecting off the broken bits of robot with
> reckless cheer despite the gravity of the situation.  So now, it would
> appear that the battle has changed into a war with an ancient artifact.

> What do you lot do now?

(Run screaming in panic and fear, what else?)

Rebound has had about enough from this goon and his techno-crap.  He glances
at the rest of the group for support and lets loose with all of the force he
can muster at that damned key. (hoping it will have some effect to the key's
detriment).

"Anytime you're ready guys, just jump on in..."

Rebound lets loose with his explosion...

(Rolls: Init: 11 Hit: 72 Dam: 69 Other effects/Rolls: 16, 9, 82...Let's not
have any other effects...Yikes!)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 01 Nov 1999 21:37:45 GMT
From:    "Charlie Clay Jr." <cclayjr@hotmail.com>

After having the snot blasted out of him Stone Cold rolls to a wobbling
stand and encases the key in ice and tries to continue blasting it out of
the room.  (65- stand, 78 blast, 66- continued blast, 46- End feat roll to
remain standing.)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 01 Nov 1999 18:55:14 -0600
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx smirks as she watches Morbius' body being devoured by his mechanical monstrosity.

"Bastard...

But it's too easy..." she thought outloud.

"Crap!" she yelled out as Stone Cold was zapped by the Stellar Key, diving for cover.

"What the hell is going on here?! Someone want to make a suggestion?!"  she called out to her fellow bequeathers of whoop ass.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date: Tue, 02 Nov 1999 10:48:02 EST
From: "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"What the hell is going on here?! Someone want to make a suggestion?!" she
>called out to her fellow bequeathers of whoop ass.

Ronin held the Thundercutter in front of him.

"I do not know, Jinx" he shouted back.  "How are to fight an object?"

Ronin will circle around, trying to get in a good positon to take a swipe at
the key.

(OOC - waiting a bit before I take a hit)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Tue, 02 Nov 1999 18:22:55 -0600
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx frowns as she glares at the Stellar Key.

"Damnit. I don't want that thing exploding and vaporizing the entire
area...but what other choice do we have?! Anyone?! You! Masque! Do you
have any ideas, Mr. Magick Man?!" she exclaimed as she tried to judge
the Key's next field of fire.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 4 Nov 1999 13:27:16 -0800 (PST)
From:    Michael Joiner <ml_joiner@yahoo.com>

> It's got a tattoo on it.  Though Ronin is able to look on, your
> reflexively turn your head as Ken Connell lets loose with the power of
> his Star Brand, and by the time you turn back, you see that he has
> completely vaporized his assailants.  He smiles at that.

Reaper pauses, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he
tries to will his way past the pain (OOC: I've never
suffered 'sonic' damage, but I'm guessin its not fun...)

He also relishes the wave of relief he feels at having
avoided an even more painfull repeat of viewing Ken's
Star-power unleash.

> However, before you can thank her for extricating you
> from that mess, the Stellar Key up and fires on you!  Despite your potent
> resistance to injury, the force that attacked you is mystical in
> nature; as such, it affects you rather adversely. you hear mad laughter coming 
> from the Key.

> It is in the key of Morbis.  "Savages!  Did you really think that by
> merely destroying my physical body that you could defeat me?!  I can
> always replace that, but for now, I can simply reside within my greatest
> creation, the Stellar Key!!  Mu Hu Ha Ha Ha!!!  Prepare to die!!!!"

> The key begins to pulsate with dangerous energies, its light filling the
> remnants of this chamber, reflecting off the broken bits of robot with
> reckless cheer despite the gravity of the situation.  So now, it would
> appear that the battle has changed into a war with an ancient artifact.

Reaper turns toward the maniacal key, his eyes narrowed in a glare.

He looks hard at the key, drawing on his Awareness to find a weakness in it.

As he begins to think up some way to affect it ionically, his hand brushes his shoulder pack.  He blinks, then turns - squatting at the same time to lift the Infinitum up.

"Ummm...Infinitum?  We, uh, we got a pretty pissed off key that's threatening to do all sorts of wacked out stuff to us...is this, like, *your* kinda thing?" he says in a low tone to the book that is still mostly contained within the bag, only the top of it exposed but sheilded by Reaper's body...

OOC:

Rolls - 71, 90, 19

Subject: [v13] Ummm..yeah...
Date:    Wed, 10 Nov 1999 01:52:41 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque waits this one out....Pondering what on Earth he is gonna do!

<sorry, no creative enrgies right now>

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 10 Nov 1999 14:56:53 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

       *** ( now that Masque has deigned to rejoin us... ) ***

Hovering above the prone form of Stone Cold, the Stellar Key mocks you
again.  "Fools!  You array against me, not even knowing the true power
that is at my disposal while my mind resides within the Stellar Key! 
Very well, then - do your worst!!!"

Just then, Rebound lets loose with with a strand of his sticky
secretions, hitting the Key with explosive force, an attack that is
immediately followed by a chilling blast of ice from the now-standing
(if barely) Stone Cold.

Meanwhile, as the Key gets bounced around by these assaults, you try to
find a weakness in the thing with your powers, Reaper, when you remember
you have the Infinitum handy.  After you ask the magical book your
question, you can sense it mentally clearing its throat.

"Yes, it would be, being a mystical object and all.  Though your rather
lost mage friend, there, should see this, you should be able to destroy
the Key by first attacking it with mystic weaponry, and then powerful
yet mundane assaults once it has been weakened."

"That which is the Infinitum has spoken."  Almost annoyed at its
attitude, you see with your awareness that the Infinitum isn't lying. 
You can perceive the anomalous sorcerous energies surrounding and
protecting the Key from the most potent of assaults.

Of course, before you can even alert your fellows to this, you see Ronin
making his move, closing on the Stellar Key and trying to strike. 
However, it would seem that everybody else is sort of grasping for
straws at this point.  What do you all do?

       (save for Ronin, of course, as I already got'cher actions)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 10 Nov 1999 07:43:21 EST
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

>"Ummm...Infinitum?  We, uh, we got a pretty pissed off key that's threatening 
>to do all sorts of wacked out stuff to us...is this, like, *your* kinda thing?" 
>he says in a low tone to the book that is still mostly contained within the
>bag, only the top of it exposed but sheilded by Reaper's body...

Seeing that Reaper has apparently gone of the deep by mutter to a book and
since the Mage has made no move, Ronin figures that only he and perhaps Jinx
stand between the team and total destruction.

Never one to shirk his duty, Ronin grips his sword tightly and slashes at
the key.

Rolls - 7 init, 98 for mutliple fight, 83 84 75 for the attacks and 52 45 65
for incidentals.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 10 Nov 1999 18:04:24 -0600
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx catches the majority of what the Infinitum spouts, not quite sure
she's hearing what she thinks she's hearing.

"What?! Talking books?! Hello! Someone with the magic shit ahould get to
it! Now!" she just yelled into the air, hoping someone who could help
was listening.

Jinx continued to try to stay out of the line of fire, using whatever
rocks and debris she could as cover.

[Dodges: 72, 100!]

Subject: RE: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 11 Nov 1999 07:58:59 -0500
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>

Seeing Ronin join the action, Rebound continues his assault making sure not
to catch any of his companions in the blast radius and hoping that all of
these assaults actually produce some effect.

Rolls: Init: 3, Hit: 95 Dam: 58, Other rolls: 67, 79, 15 (one of these days,
he'll think about dodging...but not yet)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Fri, 19 Nov 1999 02:45:55 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

"Oh bother."

Masque jumps into the fray with nothing more than a ruffle. His robes
and all that. But it is a fierce ruffle. The very crickets quake in
their tiny exoskeletal boots. Mainly for fear of being flung across the
room by the belts and ropes and.,.stuff hanging off of Masques attire.
"Ooo you evil little talisman. I shall smite thee verily and crush you
with my..my..my....err.."

Masque shrugs and says "well, just prepare to be smote!"
With that Masque fires his , often overlooked, eldritch bolt at the
thing.

(rolling 7 for intiative, a 54(green) for dodge, just in case, and a
76(yellow) for the shot and a 59(green) for damage)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Fri, 19 Nov 1999 13:27:51 -0800
From:    "Michael Joiner Jr" <ultimental@onebox.com>

Reaper stares hard at the book, "...and for those of us who don't screw around with all this magic stuff...?" he mumbles.

"Hey Masque!" He shouts, "Try-"

Reaper sees the mage going after the key.  He looks around to try to find something he could do to contribute...

<tag>

If nothing seems to leap out at him (nevermind the pun!)- he looks back down at the book now safely in its pouch again.

"That which is the Infinitum?  Is there anything you can do to help out lil' ol' 'that which is ME'?  Something of your magic to give me a chance ta squash this thing?"

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Tue, 23 Nov 1999 15:15:35 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

                       ( *** No Stone Cold? *** )

As the Key continues to gloat over you all, Ronin makes his move. 
Deftly dodging around various blasts of power the thing fires at him, he
leaps into the air and gives the Stellar Key a precision swipe, one that
sends it tumbling to the ground.

Once it hits, Masque plasters the thing with a healthy dose of raw,
eldritch energies, which seem to cut out the glow the Key has been
giving off in the air around you all.  In fact, it's gotten downright
dark in here, deep under the streets of New York City.

"Argh!  Impudent fools!  I will destroy you for this - slowly.  Oh, so
alowly..."  The thing rises up off the ground, hovering in its menace. 
You get the impression that Morbis, guiding the key with his disembodied
consciousness, is preparing for a final strike.

Before he can get to that, however, the Infinitum speaks.  "Now - while
the Key's defenses have been broken - strike!  Strike the Stellar Key
with everything you have before it is too late, for both you and your
world!  Do it!"

Lashing out in its fury, the Stellar Key blasts the Infinitum clean out
of your hands, Reaper, knocking it to the ground.  "Aargh!", cries the
Infinitum as it bounces aimlessly across the ground, smoldering all the
way.  The Key just laughs.

Now, while the Key is vulnerable, just how do y'all deal with it?

Subject: Re: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    23 Nov 1999 13:02:42 -0800 (added by MTA sj-mailproxy04.mytalk.com)
From:    cclayjr@myTalk.com

OCC: (sorry all) I guess I missed this post.

Stone Cold uses his remaining endurance to dodge (Roll: 73) throw hard ice weapons at the key hoping they will do any good.
(40pts Karma)(Roll: 85)  OCC: Dang too much karma, oh well.)  Any thing else needed: (Rolls: 63, 58, 42, 94)

Subject: RE: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Tue, 23 Nov 1999 16:27:15 -0500
From:    Douglas Lohse <LohseD@mscdirect.com>
 
"die Die DIE!!!!!  Stupid home depot reject from hell !!!!"

Rebound continues to lash out at the key with every last bit of explosive
force he can muster.  Throwing his all behind his final shot by launching
himself at it and trying to punch it into orbit.

Rolls: Init 9   Hit 87  Dam 46+20 Karma (66)  Any other rolls (except dodge)
68 56 70  02.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 24 Nov 1999 14:36:00 -0800
From:    "Michael Joiner Jr" <ultimental@onebox.com>

Reaper recoils back, shaking his hand as if it may have felt the blast.

He whips his head around, eyes narrowing as he looks at the key.
"fine...laugh it up..."
He excites the ions around the key, creating a disintegration cloud that envelopes it...

OOC:

Rolls...73, 31, 89

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Wed, 24 Nov 1999 23:54:59 -0600
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx grinned widely as she heard the go ahead from somewhere. 

"AH HAHAHAHAHAHA! Eat mag cannons you damn key!" She screamed as she let
loose with both mag cannons on full auto, letting the rush of the
firepower at her disposal explode outward in a stream of hot death.

[OOC: 67 to Hit, 92 for Damage! and 78 to Hit, 61 for Damage.]

Subject: [v13] Re: Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Thu, 25 Nov 1999 11:50:27 EST
From:    "Peter Chamers" <lil_blk_duck@hotmail.com>

Seeing his comrades-in-arms starting to battle the infamous 'Key', Ronin 
takes up his blade and attacks again.

"I will see you burn in Mufumato, Foul hellspawn!"

Ronin slashes like a ginsu machine.

Rolls - 9 init, Multipe attack 56; 98 79 54; 87 25 66 for incidentals

Subject: Re: [v13] Re: Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Sat, 27 Nov 1999 00:18:25 -0600
From:    "Christopher W. Acers" <cwacers@home.com>

Masque turns towards ronin and stares at him for a moment. Trying to
recall if Mufamato was a bread he had eaten earlier or something he read
about in his studies. Failing to come to any conclusions and wishing to
conclude this battle, so he can eat, he yells;

"Arrr!.....What he said." 

He holds out his hands and in them appears a glowing scythe-like hook.
All dangerous looking and shiny. He runs at the Talisman with Lemur-like
speed. Okay it's not that fast but he seems to hop on over fine. And
slashes at the evil entity with unabandoned fury. (Don't mess with a
hungry wizard!)

"Ay yi yiyiyiyiyi!"

(9 for init., 92 to hit(yellow), 81 for damage(yellow), and nothing for
a dodge)

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Sun, 28 Nov 1999 01:09:34 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

With a start, Reaper, things go totally berzerk.  You can barely follow
the action with the naked eye as the collected group of adventurers
around you leap into action against the Stellar Key, now that it has
been temporarily stripped of its magical defenses.

Stone Cold steadies himself and launches a barrage of icy missiles at
the key, bouncing the sculpted sapphire artifact around as it tries to
hover in the air.  You could almost swear you saw a piece of the thing
get chipped off under the assault.

Then Jinx finally makes her move against the Key, drowning it in an
overwhelming barrage of magnetically accelerated shells, one that
continues until she's completely expended her supply of bullets.  More
bits of the Key seem to have been knocked off.

Rebound then launches himself bodily at the Stellar Key, leaping with a
blast and hitting it with his all.  The thing ricochets around the room
a few times, as does Rebound, but it returns to its original resting
spot before you all, Rebound's acidic goo having an effect on it.

Then, both Masque and Ronin leap into the fray, slicing and dicing with
their respective magical weapons.  Though Masque only connects with his
Hook of Hoggoth once, you can see a definite seam across the center of
the Key's mass, a seam that Ronin takes full advantage of.

He moves like a whirling dervish, making seemingly ineffective cuts on
the surface of the Key, though when he stops, the thing shatters a scant
second later, apparently held together (now) only by its own internal
energies.  That's when you step in.

Focusing your power, you reach out in order to affect the free-floating
ions within the remains of the Stellar Key's mass, and begin to vaporize
what's left of the thing.  As you begin to do so, however, you sense a
powerful presence within Morbis' chamber - a lethal presence!

Your Awareness screaming, you lose concentration on your ionic powers,
though the damage has been done - you can see the Key dissolving into
its component atoms nonetheless.  Just then, the presence you sense
makes itself seen!  You stand in the presence of Death!

You can see that Masque can sense this being as well, and suddenly
doesn't look so happy about what's going on.  He seems to walk sideways
behind Stone Cold, as though to convince Death that he isn't, in fact,
here.  His hiding attempt seems unnecessary, however.

DO NOT WORRY, LITTLE MAGE, I AM NOT HERE FOR YOU.  INSTEAD, I MERELY
PRESENT MYSELF IN ORDER TO COLLECT THIS ONE, WHO HAS AVOIDED MY GAZE FOR
FAR TOO LONG.  QUIT SHAKING, ALREADY, OR YOU MAY... GIVE YOURSELF A
SEIZURE...

With that, the spectral figure of Death, invisible to all but you and
Masque, makes a swipe at the glowing remains of the Stellar Key, and
when he does so, you can see the ghostly image of Morbis, or his soul,
at the very least, get sucked into the folds of Death's cloak.

As this happens, however, the primal energies of the Stellar Key lose
their cohesiveness, and explode outward.  While this seems to give your
allies cause to cheer, their merriment quickly fades as the true effect
of their victory takes hold.

The Stellar Key is leaking temporal energy, in vastly powerful waves. 
In fact, the thing detonates mightily, bathing you all in the backwash
of twenty thousand years of stored up power.  You sense what is
happening a microsecond too late, and then, everything goes black.

                                 ***

As the dust settles, nothing remains in the room but a manifestation of
Death, and the charred and irate form of the Infinitum.  "Hey, can you
give me a hand here?  I'm on FIRE!"  Striding over to the still-burning
book, Death smears it across the ground with its bony foot.

HAPPY?

"Yes.  That which is the Infinitum thanks you mightly, oh ghastly one. 
Now, how about a lift out of here?  Hey?"  The form of Death looks down
at the Infinitum, and a blue light appears in the sockets of each of its
eyes.  SORRY.  THAT IS DEFINITELY NOT PART OF MY JOB DESCRIPTION.

Having said its peace, Death fades from the late Morbis' chambers,
leaving the Infinitum to its future.  "Hey, you can't leave me down
here!  It'll take years for somebody to find me, and get me out of this
hole!  And they'll probably be Illudicated Brethren!  Hey!  Hey!!"

But Death was already gone, having fulfilled his obligation to be
present at the death of a wizard.  Even now, the spectral entity was
most likely stalking other areas of the earth, or even the universe in
general, in order to perform the function it always has...

                                 ***

Well, that's that.  I'll be sending out all of y'all's collective Karma
awards here soon (mebbe even in an hour or so), and assuming that you're
all alive (as if I'd just kill you all off), I'll pick up where this
left off in a scant day or so.  Word?

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 29 Nov 1999 18:10:45 -0600
From:    "William H. Lockwood" <albedo1@home.com>

Jinx studies the scene quietly for a moment or three as she does her
best to judge the safety of her surroundings. Slowly, she lets her
probability field begin to expand, feeling out the byways of causality.
Not sensing any immediate danger to her person, she visibly relaxes, a
grin breaking her normally dour expression.

"HOOYA! Take that you [BLEEP]ing key! I bet you didn't [CENSORED] expect
that [BLEEP]! HAHAHAHAHA!" she taunts the general area in which the key
previously existed.

After that joyous outburst, Jinx collects herself and once again checks
her surroundings, a hint of a smile still on her lips.

"Right. Now what? Where the hell is Ahom or whatever he was called?" she
inquired to anyone who happened to be listening.

Subject: Re: [v13] Welcome to Your Nightmare!
Date:    Mon, 29 Nov 1999 17:58:31 -0800
From:    "Michael Joiner Jr" <ultimental@onebox.com>

Reaper slowly sits up from where he unceremoniously sprawled after the outbreak 
of power.  He blinks...the jacknifes the rest of the way up into a crouch, head 
darting back and forth.  "Where the..."  He relaxes slightly when he realizes 
that Death is no longer there.

He stands upright, exhaling.  He brushes the dust off his clothes, taking in the 
destroyed room.  He notices the charred Infinitum with a raised eyebrow.  
Walking over to it, he stoops down.  "Infinitum?  You alright?" He asks.

<tag>

(After conversing with the book...)

Reaper pivots to look at the rest of the group.  "Everyone else alright?" He asks, the weariness of the last several days of running beginning to catch up with him...

Subject: [v13] Twisted Happenings
Date:    Mon, 29 Nov 1999 21:34:22 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

> "Right. Now what? Where the hell is Ahom or whatever he was called?" 
> she inquired to anyone who happened to be listening.

As you look around for Ahom, and your eyes adjust to the environment,
Jinx, you suddenly realize that you're not where you were.  The last
thing you remember, you'd been blasted by that burst of power from the
Stellar Key's over-the-top demise, and now you're elsewhere.

You notice this as your probability field expands into the area around
you, upon which you notice that you're not in Morbis' chambers - in
fact, you're not even underground.  As far as you can tell, you're lost
in some hellish urban sprawl, standing in a pile of garbage - or worse.

Then your danger sense goes bonkers.

"Hello, Jinx.  You're right on time!  I take it that you've had quite a
pleasant time, what with that pedantic little outburst of yours, hm? 
You do look a little worse for the wear, though.  I recommend a shower
before the competition is to take place, hm?  Hahhahahah!"

You instinctively level your guns at the voice, firing away with every
last intention of reducing its source to a fine red mist, but the only
problem with that is that you seem to be out of ammunition.  Dead shy of
firing a single shot, in fact.

It would seem your battle with Morbis has left you effectively unarmed.

"Tut tut, Jinx.  Killing me now would be a serious error in judgment. 
After all, the prize awaits you, and I can't grant it if I happen to be
dead, now, can I?  Well, judging from your glare, I see that you don't
care too much about my health, so I'll be off.  Adieu!"

With that, the source of the voice walks forward, revealing himself to
be a tall, thin man with long hair, and a face totally burnt beyond
recognition.  He's wearing the single most expensive suit you've ever
laid your eyes on.  He bows before you, laying an envelope at your feet.

"Merry Christmas, Jinx!"

Before you can stammer out a response, what with your acerbic wit being
somewhat hampered by your lack of gunpower, the man fades into the
darkened alleyway, blending into the shadow in the blink of the
proverbial eye.  Leaving you in a dark alley, unarmed and alone.

As you ponder just what has happened, you hear a screeching sound come
from one end of the alley, one that seems to lead to civilization.  The
screech ends as a Jeep plows into the corner of the building where said
alley begins, one with a rather large gun mounted on top.

"Hey!  Watch where yer goin', ya knucklehead!"

Though disoriented, you can't help but recognize that voice.  It belongs
to a particular gear-head, one who greases his hair with 40-weight oil
and has the bad habit of referring to all women as 'chicks'.  That's
right, in the Jeep ahead of you lies good ol' Clutch!

Of course, the last time you saw him, he was being wheeled off to the
hospital, since you'd shot him in the leg in your quest to kill good ol'
Hardcore.  Ah, memories.  So, what do you check out, Jinxie?  Envelope
or Clutch?  Or both?  Hm...?

* Continuity Note:  I was gonna wait a few days before continuing, but I
apparently left a sort of miscommunication in my last post...  What I
tried (and failed) to convey was the fact that the Stellar Key's
destruction blasted y'all all over the damn place.

In other words, when I stated that there was nothing in the room save
for Death and the Infinitum, I meant it!  =)  I'll just fix thingies on
the fly, though, so it's no biggie.  Sorry if I wasn't clear on that
regard, folks (my bad).

Subject: [v13] Lost In Space...?
Date:    Mon, 29 Nov 1999 21:58:03 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

* Continuity Note:  I was gonna wait a few days before continuing, but I
apparently left a sort of miscommunication in my last post...  What I
tried (and failed) to convey was the fact that the Stellar Key's
destruction blasted y'all all over the damn place.

In other words, when I stated that there was nothing in the room save
for Death and the Infinitum, I meant it!  =)  I'll just fix thingies on
the fly, though, so it's no biggie.  Sorry if I wasn't clear on that
regard, folks (my bad).

Now, back to the show, Reaper (I'll try not to dismember your post too
much...)

Michael Joiner wrote:

> Reaper slowly sits up from where he unceremoniously sprawled after the 
> outbreak of power.  He blinks...the jacknifes the rest of the way up 
> into a crouch, head darting back and forth.  "Where the..."  He 
> relaxes slightly when he realizes that Death is no longer there.

> He stands upright, exhaling.  He brushes the dust off his clothes, 
> taking in the destroyed room.  He notices the charred Infinitum with a 
> raised eyebrow.  Walking over to it, he stoops down. "Infinitum?  You 
> alright?" He asks.

Bending down, you see that the charred book before you isn't the prone
form of that which is the Infinitum, but another book altogether. 
Picking the thing up, you try to read the cover, but can't quite make
out the squiggles that seem to make up the printed title on the cover.

That's when the other differences begin to take shape.  For one thing,
you can tell that you're not underground any more.  You're still in a
generally enclosed space, but you can see that this space is built of
plasteel and other artificial materials, not rough-hewn stone.

Then your awareness tells you the worst part - there's no earth here!
 
> Reaper pivots to look at the rest of the group. 

> "Everyone else alright?" He asks, the weariness of the last several 
> days of running beginning to catch up with him...

Looking around, the only cat you see in your vicinity seems to be that
Ken Connell fellow.  He's laying face down, and apparently having some
kind of convulsions.  You're not quite sure what's wrong with the man,
but he sure as heck doesn't look good.

As you draw closer for a better look-see, you hear the sound of
foot-falls approaching your person.  There's three people, from the
sound of it, though they don't seem to be in all that much of a hurry. 
Rounding a corner, they come into view - a lot.

Two of the figures before you are robots, though the glimmer of crafty
intellect shines through their optic sensors.  The third is some kind of
animate mushroom, sitting about three feet tall and armed (as it were)
with a brace that is holding two apparently bio-engineered tentacles.

Then you see the fourth, a glowing orb of energy that seems to be
partially contained by what appears to be a helmet, though one with
specialized energy couplings that draw power from the energy orb to
power the twin cannons mounted on the helmet's side.

It crackles an incoherent buzz at you, one that sounds somewhat
reminiscent of television static, though with more of a tinny edge.  The
two robots start to make like modem-sounds, adding emphasis with various
hand gestures that have no apparent connotation to yourself.

Finally, the mushroom-thing waves its tentacles at you, and you hear a
voice in your head, a sort of cloying, damp sort of voice.  "What's
this?  A Granx't way out here?  How curious.  How came you to be here,
creature?  And why do you hold a copy of the Book of Aagh?"

You're not quite sure what it's talking about, but you vaguely remember
Ahom mentioning the two races of pre-historic humans whose actions were
central to the rise and fall of Morbis - the Varakni and the Granx't. 
You know you're not of either species, but these folks don't.

What next?

Subject: [v13] Welcome to the Great Wheel
Date:    Tue, 30 Nov 1999 01:28:21 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

It was all white, then it was all black.

The Stellar Key detonated with tremendous force, bathing the lot of you
in its temporal energies.  You weren't quite prepared for the effect
your attack on the ancient artifact would have, but you seem to be
alive, still.  At least the two of you think you are.

And then it was blue, Ronin.

You look up in to the most azure blue sky you've ever seen, a sky of the
most primal blue you could ever imagine.  You find that you're laying on
soft, cool, springy green grass, and though the ground is slightly
uneven, it's the most comfortable bedding you can recall having used.

And then it was green, Masque.

You wake up sputtering, your mouth full of the substance and flavor of
grass.  Getting all of the planty mass out of your mouth, you look
around and see that master swordsman, Ronin, laying on the grass in awe
of the sky above.

And then you both see the spire.

Looking around, you see the uneven, mountainous landscape around you,
but the spire of rock in the distance towers over these immense chunks
of earth like they were mere pebbles before Mount Everest.  On top of
it, however, hovers an improbable torus of rock, like a great donut.

As the two of you acclimate yourselves to the surroundings, you notice
that the soft suss of grass being blown about by the gentle breeze is
not quite perfect; you can hear the slightest sounds of civilization in
the distance, and in time, your eyes train on what your ears hear.

Down the hill from your current position, in a direction opposite the
massive spire you behold in the distance, you see a tiny little town -
or, more appropriately, a village.  You even see a small plot of farm
land to its immediate left, growing positively huge stalks of corn.

Things aren't all exactly rosy, however, for you can see a gaggle of
folks heading from the village towards your position.  They look tough,
and they look positively armed, some wearing armor and all wielding at
least one weapon.  They don't seem malicious, really, but still.

You never know, what with the two of you having no idea where the heck
you happen to be...

?

Subject: [v13] These Black Sands...
Date:    Tue, 30 Nov 1999 02:10:27 -0600
From:    Firebomb <firebomb@home.com>

The wind whipped all about you, Rebound.  Travelling at thirty miles per
hour, it was enough to keep you slightly off balance, though the sand
was what was really annoying the Hell out of you.  Moving along at like
speeds, each granule of broken earth hit just hard enough.

As such, you were constantly being subjected to a stream of tiny
explosions that were forcing you back to the earth as soon as you tried
to stand.  You've been trying for hours to make some progress in any
direction, but now you're hopelessly lost in this pressure cooker.

It didn't help matters that your initial entry into this place, wherever
it may be, blasted you way off from wherever anybody else who arrived
with you might've landed.  Heck, the whole group of thugs you fought
Morbis with may be here, just barely out of the range of your sight.

Just when you were about to give up in despair, yet another topple into
the sands knocked you into something rather hard and obstinate in its
immobility.  Though the impact flipped you over 180 degrees, landing you
face first into the sand and dirt, you could barely make out a foot.

A big, stony foot.

Digging into the grainy earth, you find that this foot apparently
belongs to that mountainous rock guy, Stone Cold - or somebody who looks
just like him.  He's seemingly unconscious, but then, being a hunk of
inanimate stone, it's hard to say.

However, he's seemingly still alive, as his body is radiating a potent
aura of cold, a sharp contrast to the oppressive heat being ingrained
into your body by this hot, withering wind.  Also, his excavated form is
offering you some shelter from the constant explosions around you.

Meanwhile, you wake up in something of a daze, Stone Cold, not quite
sure what happened, but positive that your current situation isn't all
that much better than the last.  Sure, it's brighter here than in
Morbis' subterranean chambers, but much, much hotter.

Oppressively so, in fact.  Additionally, when you wake up, you take note
of the wind for the first time, and the horrid granules of earth it's
carrying.  And, to add insult to injury, it seems that that Rebound
fellow is hiding from the wind - using your massive, granite frame!

What do you do, Stoney, Rebound?
