Age of Heroes: Issue 1 Some Assembly Required

[Nina]

Arc floated its vision scanning, taking readings, analyzing data.

 

The radiation residue was extradimensional and … Arc knew this, but it could not put it’s knowledge into words.

 

Holes in it’s memories

 

Confusion

 

Tess tumbled in her bubble of force. Waves of turbulence pass through the zone of Chaos and something flashes in and out of existence like a picture on a TV with only rabbit ears for reception.

 

Spoiler

What Tess sees

 

<what is that?>  Tess steadies herself and concentrates on the distant image and it grows brighter, closer until she can make it out more clearly. <is that a person?>

 

The figure floats near the bubble but it isn’t really there it is a thought, a memory, released from Arc’s mind.

 

“Thank you, Tess, you have helped me remember. That is a Razgrith, a very, very dangerous being from the Inniexx Dimension. “

 

Tess shrugs as the image of the Razgrith fades leaving the usual chaos behind. <you’re welcome can I get out now?>

 

“Not yet Tess I am sorry but I must find it. It is hungry.”

[SalmonMax]

Poking through the wreckage wasn't doing Aspen's frame of mind any favors. The only mercy so far was the lack of bodies in general...but that was also really weird, wasn't it? A blast like that should have left remains all over the place. Even if those remains were ashes and scorched bones. The solution seemed to be that the workforce hadn't been here. But then where?

 

She wasn't looking when the figure appeared in the air, but that didn't matter. Every part of her surface was capable of reacting to light; a fact that had caused her a lot of problems until she'd learned how to curate her attention. These days it was more like having 360 degree peripheral vision, and the motion attracted her focus.

 

Hovering over the crater was...a person? A thing? No, almost definitely a person. A super, like her. They were hovering there, looking around. Uhf...flight. There was a power she really wished she had. Getting around could be such a chore sometimes.

 

Aspen wasn't sure if this was another hero trying to help, or whoever had set off the blast surveying the results. It didn't matter though. Either way they might have some answers.

 

She stepped out of the rubble she'd been searching through and waved an arm; a metallic feminine humanoid figure.

 

"Hey! You up there! Are you here to help?"

[Shameless]

The pounding continued, until Big Time drew near enough to lift the rubble and revealed 4 men.  They were all injured in some way, with burns, and at least one visibly broken leg.   They watched as she lifted the debris that had buried them effortlessly, and were seemingly in awe of her.
 

Dynames, for his part, seemed to be studying the blast effects, and nodded.  "We're too far north, whatever caused this, it let off the blast further south."  It was then that he noticed she'd moved some debris.   "Did you find anyone alive?"

 

----------------------------

Once again Aspen heard the man's voice, asking someone this time if they'd found anyone alive.  

 

Before the entity she spoke to as she emerged from the rubble could respond, there was an inhuman roar, and she saw another creature, mostly made of Energy, emerge.  It was much larger, and all at once danger signals began flashing through her mind.    

----------------------------------------

For Arc, There was another pulse, this time it was powerful.   Then someone stepped out of the rubble and addressed them.   Before Arc could reply, an inhuman roar sounded from about three hundred meters to the east.   There had been a small power station there, but now that it was drained of its power, the Razgriz was hungry again, and To it, Arc represented both an enemy, and a meal.  It drew itself up, nearly twenty feet tall, and then began rising into the air, Arc knew this was its normal attack position, but noticed the head at first, was pointed their way, but now was pointed where the person was standing, and massive hands rose, a clear sign the Razgriz was about to attack.

[Exile_Jeane]

Carol loved being right. And she couldn't really deny it to herself, she *did* love the positive attention of a successful rescue. Perks of a job well done.

 

"You're welcome," the megamorph model answered to the men's implied gratitude, a broad smile blooming on her face, "Name's Big Time and I'm glad to help. If you could help the gentleman with the broken leg get clear while I keep this building from further falling down on you, I would very much appr..."

 

Her speech was interrupted by the roar of some kind of great beast that made her whip her head around to see a floating monstrosity seemingly made out of energy in the distance. Well. Right. Less back scratching more hitting then.

 

"If you could expedite that retreat, gentlemen, I would appreciate it," she continued with the smile turning wry, bracing open a path through the wreckage with one arm as the other went to her ear to trigger the comm unit, voice dropping to a whisper, "Yeah. I did. Getting them clear before heading towards Mr. Big and Sparkly. He one of your local regulars?"  

 

  

[Nina]

Arc takes in the scene. The Human has drawn the attention of the Razgriz and is about to be oblitirated.

 

Drawing on their inner power Arc throws a shield between the Human and the Razgriz's attack and at the same time flashes through space to Intercept the monster!

 

Spoiler

using force field to create a shield between the target and razgriz and blinking to inter sept.  6 successes for the shield, 2 successes for the blink

 

[SalmonMax]

Lights in the sky, flashing, sparking off each other. Some kind of weird energy elemental clashing with...something that looked a lot scarier. And more aggressive. Was that something that could have caused an explosion like this?

 

Aspen thought maybe it was.

 

She worked her shoulders, and the metallic 'skin' that covered her shimmered and turned liquid. It extended out, forming a pair of large airfoils. Each featured a simple ducted fan in the center...necessary since her mass was higher than a human body's. The rotor blades started up, kicking up a haze of ash and dust, and Aspen...as Alecto...roared up off the ground, heading towards the nasty dangerous looking creature up there.

 

Spoiler

(Using Transformation to allocate 3 dice into Flight, 3 into Might, and 3 into Toughness and heading into battle!)

 

[Shameless]

Arc wasn't going to make it in time to place itself between the attacking Razgriz and the human survivor, That said, however, They were able to place a powerful defensive barrier in place.   What happened next defied all expectation as The human seemed to become metal, and melt, transforming as it were, into something else, sprouting two air foils and rising into the air.  Clearly, not a normal human then, and it looked like she was ready to fight.   

Then the Razgriz released a torrent of violet colored plasma energy, which washed over the shield Arc had placed.   The shield held, barely,  but it was quite a lightshow.

Dynames shook his head.  "Not even close.  He's from way out of town."   His own senses allowed him to see and feel things across a multitude of spectrums, and the energy this creature was putting off was unlike all but a few things he knew.   One of them actually being in the sky with it, as he recognized Arc's presence.   "Shit."   With that, he Flew towards the confrontation, not wanting to overuse his other transport ability too much.   "Arc, the smaller one,  however, is a regular, don't attack it."  He spoke just in time to see the monster attack, though not what it attacked.   "I wouldn't touch it barehanded Big Time, use whatever else you need to within reason, I'll take responsibility."

[Nina]

Arc swiftly begins phasing in and out all around the Rezgriz drawing its attention. “The Rezgriz feeds off energy by touch so don’t let it grab you!”

 

Spoiler

will be using blink (combat phasing) to distract and as arcs defense  5 successes

 

[Exile_Jeane]

Seeing the civilians hustling out of the scene at the quickest rate 4 men with a total of seven functional legs between them could, Carol looked up, squinting behind her mask as she took in the one, two, three... four, maybe... airborne figures doing battle above. Well. It wasn't like she was going to fly up and punch it. No matter how very unhobbit-like her frame was, the oldest trick still applied.

 

Big Time knelt and picked up a chunk of debris the perfect size to fit in her palm. She held up the pointer finger on her other hand to gauge the wind and grinned as she lined up on the behemoth with her eyes. A few long strides to her left and in the unlikely event she missed, the chunk should come down over the water. The megamorph model gave a grunt and spun, releasing her projectile at their target.

 

Spoiler

Might Roll

[9d6] Roll: [6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3, 2, 2]

Six Successes, I think?

 

[SalmonMax]

Even when augmenting herself, Alecto wasn't what she'd usually call a 'bruiser.' However, she was constantly gathering information from all directions around her, seeing into wavelengths of light that were invisible to human eyes. She spotted someone in the process of hurling some kind of projectile, and decided...yeah, that was something she could use.

 

The fans in her wings roared in protest as she throttled up, angling the vanes on the wings to carry her on an arc over and around the crackling energy being...then propel her around in a tight spin; aiming a powerful kick at the creature's back timed to coincide with the incoming bomb from Big Time!

 

Spoiler

(Might Attack! SalmonMax Request: [6d6] Roll: [6, 6, 6, 5, 1, 1] Result: 25 6 successes!)

 

[Shameless]

The Razgriz unleashed a roar, cutting loose a large energy blast at Arc, the largest source of energy it could sense closeby, after seeing through the phasing defense it was using.
 

(Arc takes 1 damage)  
 

It was then hit twice in rapid succession by powerful physical attacks, one from a large piece of debris battering down its shield and actually harming it.  Not to be outdone, Aspen's kick also connected, sending the Razgriz back and downward, into the remnants of one of the buildings, dealing yet more damage.   The creature stirred from where it had been knocked to the ground and roared again.   It began to change colors, shifting more towards red energy leaking from it.  Arc knew this meant it was both injured and enraged, meaning its attacks would be more savage, and it would be seeking out more energy, from any source.
 

Dynames covered the distance himself, and in his hand a claymore made of light came into being.   He smiled under his mask, knowing he hadn't gotten a dud this time around.   

[Nina]

Arc spun from the impact but steadied himself by the time the Razgriz recovered from getting slapped to the ground.

 

Taking inspiration from Big Time's thrown debris Arc's Potentiality Nacelles spun into invisibilty and intangible forces reached out and scopped up all the debris it could reach and smashed it with awesome force at the radiating menace!

 

Spoiler

Use omni power to telekinetically smash the razgriz with as much junk as possible.  rolled six successes.

 

[Exile_Jeane]

And another colossal chunk of debris found it's way spinning at the electrcialium horror, courtesy of Big Time's throwing arm, a very track-and-field-esque discuss throw sending it at her stunned target. She didn't know what the monster changing color meant or how close that meant the thing was to ending, but she did know a thing a two about making herself a target if it was amping up to some sort of ultimate burst.

 

"Here, Kitty Kitty," the megamorph model taunted, "Why settle for a little morsel when there's a whole snack right here?"

 

She punctuated her statement with a cocky little toss and catch of a third projectile, really hoping her second shot had connected in the confusion of the battle.

 

Spoiler

Rolling Might to Hit

[9d6] Roll: [6, 5, 4, 4, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1] Heh, Seven Successes me thinks.

 

[Shameless]

Another barrage of attacks hammered the Razgriz, it was wholly unused to the continued physical assault, and it had already used  more energy than it had gained.    It needed to feed, even as it blasted its way free of the debris, losing enough energy cohesion that its energy aura shifted to an even darker crimson.    Even though Alecto was closest, The Razgriz launched itself at Dynames, the energy of his sword drawing it in like a magnet.   It reached out for him, and instinctively he backed away.  As Dynames made to strike it with his sword, the razgriz seemed to almost accept it.   The bright energy blade seemed to shimmer and shift, becoming a massive blade of metal.  It was far too late for the interdimensional entity to dodge, and the slash tore a massive gash in its chestpiece, even as it sent crashing back to earth.   Arc recognized that this was nearly the end of the Razgriz, as it no longer had the energy to keep both its arms.

[Nina]

Arc yelled "Wait!"

 

It quickly analyzed the area and not stopping while he explained. he grabbed a large container with his power, tore it open then wrapped it around the Razgriz. Once the Creature was inside the container Arc activated a forcefield outside the container.

 

"The Razgriz is a dangerous beast, but it is nothing more than a beast. This destruction was not from malice but from its accidental entry to this world. Its attack are simply its nature and drive to survive. We should try to either return it to its own universe or if not able to do that, find someplace to hold it in captivity."

 

Spoiler

5 success on containing it, 3 on the forcefield.

 

[Exile_Jeane]

"That's wonderful and good," Big Time offered with a mixture of sarcasm and curiosity, "Sounds like you're the expert, so how would you propose we do that?"

 

The megamorph model kept a steady grip on her potential projectile, eyes not breaking from the improptu cage. She really did want to know, actually. It might give her an insight into Arc's nature and why he, it, resonated so much with her otherwise silent passenger. San Francisco had shipped a handful of it's defeated threats away via interested government agency but anything on this... Ragiz's scale tended to be towed away in pieces. Nobody wanted a kaiju infestation, least of all the woman most in a position to have to grapple said kaiju.

[SalmonMax]

"Yeah," Alecto agreed. "I'm good with...computers and stuff, but I can't hack my way into another universe. And that thing is way too dangerous to leave any chance of it getting away. Look what it DID to this place..."

 

She looks around the construction yard. No bodies, she thought, trying to calm herself down. No bodies, even in...part. If they'd been here, surely there'd be remains.

 

"Did anyone check to see if there were survivors here yet? I was in the middle of looking when this guy showed up."

[Shameless]

The impromptu cage rattled, but the Razgriz lacked the strength to do much more than that now, and Dynames nodded.  "We did find some survivors north of here, Big Time was able to get them out safely before we came over here to help deal with the Razgriz."    He looked at the cage, and sighed.  "Codex, contact Perry, see if they've got something that might be able to be tuned to either send this thing back, or contain it indefinitely."  He knew the government had researched different dimensions, but also that that research was still largely in its infancy.   "I'd rather send it home than imprision it just to watch it starve.  Arc said this thing feeds on energy, and we can't possibly give it enough to allow it to go on a rampage again."

Once he'd spoken to his partner, he looked to the other gathered heroes.  "Thank you all for helping, we kept this from making it to the city proper, where it would have done much more harm."  He looked at Aspen.  "As one of this City's primary defenders I like to think I keep abreast of any new superhumans in town.  Yet I've never met, or heard of you.  Would you mind at least telling me your name?"

[Nina]

"The proper procedure after subduing the Razgriz would be to put it into suspension in a General Stasis Field. I do not have my Stasis generator but certainly your association has a substitute."  Arc spoke dispassionately and almost mechanically.

 

<Jesus ARC, we don't have anything like that on Earth and you really really need to let me out> The edge of panic was very much evident in in Tess's thought voice. She squeezed her eyes shut as the 'world she was in begane twisting in on itself like pulling taffy in a taffy machine.

 

[Shameless]

Codex sighed as she heard Arc's reply.  "Of course we don't have something like that, it wouldn't take long at all for something like that to..."  She trailed off.  "Wait."

The line to Perry opened.  "Codex, what's the situation?"

"Currently contained, but the creature, called a razgriz, is not dead.   We need some sort of general stasis field to hold it indefinitely.  Something that continually changes the energy signature so the creature cannot feed on it."

"And the reason Dynames and his little friends haven't just killed it?"

"They're heroes Perry.  They don't kill when they don't have to."

"It will be some time, but I'll see what I can do."  Perry closed the connection.  Codex scowled, Perry's tone said it all.  The truth of the matter was that the Razgriz was inconvenient.  They likely had no tech to keep it indefinitely.   They wanted it gone, one way or another, and weren't likely to be any sort of help.