csyphrett

Re: xialin showdown Page 16- After a couple of hours of driving around, Jade's phone rang. She knew it had to be Jonny Woo, calling to say he had found an expert to help her. Jade grabbed her cell and pushed talk and said, "Hello?" "Miss Lee, I have secured an expert that can help us with information. If you will meet me at Buso University, we can visit him at his office on campus." Jonny Woo's voice paused, maybe to take a puff of a Marlboro. "His name is Gadd. I'll be looking out for you at the front office." "Sure thing Mr. Woo I will be there in about 20 minutes. Oh and thank you, see you soon." Jade drove to the University. The old BU was a set of buildings surrounding a hexagon courtyard in the center. The administration building faced the entrance street, brick and white shutters. Jonny Woo stood on the steps, dressed in his usual black suit and red tie. Jade parked her car, got out of her car, and quickly looked around to make sure no one else was there then quickly walked over to Mr. Woo. She said, "Good evening Mr Woo, and thanks for waiting. I hope I didn't make you wait for long." "No problem." Jonny pointed at one of the buildings across the campus. "Dr. Gadd's office is over in the science building. I called for an appointment. We should get there just in time." "Then we better not be late," said Jade as she started walking to the science building. The three story brick building could have been from anywhere. Plain windows formed rows from one end of the face to the other. Doors weren't on the front, they were on the sides. Inside either end, a staircase led up to the other two floors. A sign posted room numbers and teach names for each. Gadd's room and office sat on the third floor according to the sign. The empty room sat beside a wooden door with a pebbled glass front. It looked a little different than the other office doors on the floor that Jade saw. Jonny Woo knocked on the door, waited for a come in, then entered the office. Jade followed Mr. Woo into the room and walked over to Mr. Gadd and said, "Good evening, Mr. Gadd. Thank you for seeing us." "Doctor." The small, almost bald man said. Round glasses made his eyes seem like little spots. "It's Doctor Gadd. What can I do for you? Mr. Woo wasn't really specific on the phone."

Re: The New Circle Character Name: Sombra Real Name: Ral Sombra Nationality: Vectra Hair/Eye Color: Blue/red Place of Birth: Infantia City, Vectra Date of Birth: The third day of Tierce, 2500 ABP. Height/Mass: Variable Cost Characteristic Value 8 STR 1842 DEX 24 20 CON 20 20 BODY 20 8 INT 18 30 EGO 25 2 PRE 12 1 COM 12 PD 3 ED 4 6 SPD 4 REC 7 END 40 STUN 39 OCV: 8 DCV: 8 OECV: 8 DECV: 8 Phases: 3,6,9,12 Cost Powers and Talents (END) Flight Pods 10" Flight (20 pts), OAF (-1) 10 pts Stun gun 5d6 energy blast (25 pts) OAF (-1) 12 pts Force Field 40 pts (20pd /20 ed) OIF (-½) 26 pts D-Vest 60 point multipower OIF (-½) 40 pts 3u Growth 60 pts OIF (-½), Lockout (-½) 30 pts 3u Shrink 60 pts OIF (-½), Lockout (-½) 30 pts 3u Stretching 60 pts OIF (-½), Lockout (-½) 30 pts Scanner: Detect homing beacon 3 pts, OAF (-1) 1 pt Key Shifter: Extradimensional Movement (20 pts), OAF (-1), Only at correct juncture (-1) 10 pts 24 + 12 pt Equipment Pool OAF (-1), Only Changed in Home Dimension (-½), 14 pts Cost Skills 3 Climbing 13- 3 Combat driving 13- 3 Combat piloting 13- 6 Fast draw: small arms, energy weapons 13- 3 Stealth 13- 3 Lockpicking 13- 9 TF: Air and ground vehicles hand gliding, parachuting, jet packs 5 WF: Common melee weapons, small arms, Energy weapons 3 Criminology 12- 3 Cryptography 12- 3 Deduction 12- 3 Demolitions 12- 3 Forensic Medicine 12- 3 Navigation 12- 3 Paramedics 12- 3 Shadowing 12- 3 Survival 12- 3 Security Systems 12- 3 System operations 12- 3 Interrogation 11- 3 KS: Vectra Underworld 12- 3 KS: Terran Underworld 12- 3 KS: Dimensional Shunt 12- 3 AK: Vectra 12- 3 AK: Earth 12- 5 English: idiomatic 150 Points Disadvantages 20 Subject to orders 15 Workaholic 15 Expedient 10 DF: D-Vest 15 Hunted by Rogue's Gallery 11- 10 Watched by Agency 11- 10 Reputation: Relentless 11- 10 Rivalry with other retrievers 15 Secret Identity: Extradimensional Manhunter operating on Earth. 20 DNPC - Jasmine, Dr. Yanez's assistant 14- 10 Vulnerable to sonics 2 x body CHA Cost = 137 Total Powers Cost = 122 Total Skills Cost = 91 Total Cost = ______350____________ Background Information: Ral Sombra grew up in what could be described as a middle class community in one of the major cities of his home world. He joined the law enforcement as a way of having a secure career. His arrest record and general tenacity earned him a slot in the fugitive retrieval unit. When it became known that certain criminal elements were breaking across dimensional barriers to escape justice, Sombra was among those selected to pursue them. Sombra spent the rest of his career split between his home dimension and protecting the Earth from criminal elements from his home world, and others native to his assigned beat. The program ended at the time of V'han's invasion of Earth. Sombra and a few of his squad seemed to have been caught in the upheaval and died in action. Quote: "Dead or alive, you're coming with me." Personality: Sombra is a lone wolf, dedicated to hunting down the fugitives from his own dimension. He also tends to take the quickest line to the end of his searches, trying to return to his home as fast as possible. Appearance: Sombra can pass for a human, with red hair and blue eyes. He wears his vest and equipment over a gray fatigue uniform. Powers: Sombra's powers deprive from his equipment. His D-vest gives him protection with a force field, allows him to change his size, and can be extended in the shape of his limbs. The flight pods hooked to his belt allow him to fly. His other pieces of equipment include a detector for tracking the fugitives from his home dimension, and a portal maker for going home. Plot Hooks 1) A representative appears and asks the heroes to help round up a fugitive in another dimension. The catch is the fugitive is on V'han homeworld and has to be stopped from talking about Vectra to her royal highness. Plot Hook 2) A criminal known as Phantas has reappeared after several decades among the missing. Is it the same man as the criminal mastermind of the fifties? And why does he have a D-Vest. Plot Hook 3) Several dimensions have merged into one inside the campaign city's limits. Heroes and villains from different time zones have appeared with the confluence. None know what caused the event, and there is some worry of another reality storm. Note: This hero was created from Steve Ditko's Shade the changing man.

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower Its from a mail list of solo games for uber-world.com. The formatting is probably me. I'll have to work on it. http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/solouber/ CES

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower Jason Jones, former middle-aged accountant, victim of a disastrous wish, and newly minted hero, spotted another of the green frogs with the red markings on the foster home farm where he had been dumped by the authorities. In two weeks, they expected him to restart school again. That was part of the proceedings after what had happened. The frog croaked, apparently unafraid of him. "It seems to like you, Mr. Jones." Jason's danger sense said get out of here, dummy. One look told him it was the djinn wearing something from John Wayne's costume department, right down to the ten gallon white hat. Jason Jones, former middle-aged accountant, victim of a disastrous wish, and newly minted hero, spotted another of the green frogs with the red markings on the foster home farm where he had been dumped by the authorities. In two weeks, they expected him to restart school again. That was part of the proceedings after what had happened. [New, Widower] Jason sat slouched on the stump, leaning up against the side of the barn, moping in the afternoon sun. Jason sat slouched, contemplating the red-spotted frog in front of him. It had unusual markings, and was more likely native to northeastern Australian coastal region than to the Virginian lowlands. Frog. They're a completely different type of animal, following a different evolutionary track optimized for a dry environment, very often further optimized for burrowing. All I'm saying is that if you're going to ignore something, the least you can do is get its species correct. ….. ….. Jason sat slouched on the stump, not moping, not paying attention to anything of scientific interest around him, and most certainly not listening to the voice in his head. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! So, if I may be so bold, what ARE you doing, aside from beating your head against the side of the barn? The frog croaked, apparently unafraid of him or his deranged behavior. "It seems to like you, Mr. Jones." Jason's entire body tensed, his stomach doing a flip-flop as the words seemingly came out of nowhere, his senses screaming at him to get the heck out of Dodge. He threw himself off the stump, body spinning as he dropped to the ground, sweeping the dirt with his right hand as he came up into a crouch, ready to launch himself at his unknown foe. One look told him it was the djinn wearing something from John Wayne's costume department, right down to the ten gallon white hat. "Iziz." Jason ground out the single word as the adrenaline coursed through his veins. He forced himself to stand slowly upright. After eyeing the immortal spirit's outfit for a moment, he carefully brushed the dirt off of his pant leg and slouched back down onto his tree stump. "What?" "I'm just passing through and thought I would check how you liked your new life." Iziz even copied the Duke's stance as he pushed the hat away from his swarthy brow. "We servants of the cosmos have tons of paperwork to fill out. Part of that is customer satisfaction." Jason exhaled slowly as he closed his eyes; the thoughts swirling as he leaned back, tapping his head slowly against the old wood planks behind him. It really all came back to that. He’d been trying to think of ways around it, ways his words could have been twisted, but it all came down to logic. No matter how he thought it out, some part of him, just before he made the wish, must have realized what would happen, and said: “Death of my loved ones? Complete destruction of all else I hold dear? Selling my soul for cheesy comic book powers? Sounds good to me!” Hey, don't look at me. I'm just the intangible voice in your head. But I don't think you really sold your soul. That was just poetic license on my part. Depends on your theology. Some djinn were called Shaitan, or “those who hate” – in English, the word translates to ‘Satan’. All of this dialog taking place in a single breath, so he cracked one eye open. “Oh, getting through. Day to day, hour to hour. That kind of stuff.” He huffed, blowing up his bangs. “At the moment, I’m trying to figure out that, according to you, I enjoy metaphorically stabbing myself in the gut with a rusty trowel. Nice hat, by the way.” "Thank you. I got it at some place called Goodwill." The djinn shifted, started rolling a cigarette from supplies taken from a pocket. A flick of his thumb set one end on fire. He puffed on the home made, swarthy face hang dog. "I won't lie to you. You have picked a hero's destiny, and soon you will have reason to regret that far more than I would like. A playing field has been selected and pieces are being assembled as we speak. It's not what I would like but Allah wills and the sun shines." "The whole getup? Huh." He studied the djinn for several moments. "Points for low-rent costume hunting, then." The adrenaline had finished its mad stampede through his body, and was shaking like a caffeine junkie before their first triple-shot latte. He flexed his hands into fists a couple of times, before finally folding them over his stomach. Sorry. I'll try not to scream so loud the next time an inter-dimensional entity of Phenomenal Cosmic Power appears nearby. That was sarcasm. He chose to frown instead. "I thought I had a hero's destiny." He gestured vaguely around him, at the field in front of him, the parked rust-red antique tractor nearby, and the woodpile next to him. "Y'know, the whole `foster alien in a small farm town' thing. Seasons one through six, and counting." He stretched his hands out in front, framing the djin with his hands. "Only not so much with the alien bit, and more with the magical construct." Then he let his arms drop, and sighed. Jewish legends of the golem, means I actually fit in just fine, damn it.> Wow. I'd just like to say that, appearances aside, you're a complete nerd. literary references to the Devil.> Never claimed otherwise. Your point? "You'll understand." The djinn puffed on his cigarette for a moment. "Things have been invoked beyond changing your personal history and setting. Heroes are being called to battle. I have to go check on the rest of my work. I'll see you again if Allah wills and the sun shines." He dropped the cigarette butt on the ground, stamped it out, and started off in John Wayne's pigeon toed walk. "Good luck." “Umph.” John didn't bother to watch the spirit saunter away, not trusting his eyes to not spontaneously develop heat vision and ignite the spirit's hat. Instead, he leaned forward, putting his elbows on his knees, and stared at the ground, listening as the clink of the djinn's spurs faded into nothingness, ultimately masked by the myriad sounds of a living, working farm: the distant highway, the lowing cattle, the rustle of the wind through the fields. Along with those, he was left with the cryptic warning from his supernatural Mentor, floating through his memory like the spirit of air and smoke that spoke them. Well, the frog was still there, too. Why not? It's highly influential! John spat, still staring at the dirt. Think about what you just said, and where you are. It was the Call to Adventure! How Campbellian can you get? He grimaced, and then stood in a rush. “In that case, it would be traditional for me to Refuse The Call then, wouldn't it?” he muttered. Well, yes. But then you'll have to deal with your aunt and uncle being killed by storm troopers. “I think we're already past that point,” he said, growling. He strode over to the woodpile, and grabbed at a random stick. “So he's the mentor then.” Taking it he began to thump on the wood. “The Old Man.” Whack. “The Obi-Wan.” Whack. “The Wizard.” Whack. “With the power.” Big Whack. “But gets.” Even bigger Whack. “Some ignorant %$#@” Ooh, gonna break the stick with that one. “TO DO HIS DIRTY WORK!! Whack-whack-whack-whack-wha-CRUNCH! You do realize you're yelling at the woodpile, right? Jason stared at the broken stick in his hand, his throat raw, his eyes burning. You going to have any more psychotic breaks that I should know about? He slouched back to his stump, idly tossing the now-shortened stick to the ground. That's the spirit! Cross the first threshold! To Mos Eisley, and Beyond! Whatever. "Hey Jaaaaaay-son!" Aunt Martha May's call sounded over the farm, powered by lungs that could blow up a hot air balloon. "Phone call!" sound of his foster parent's voice. don't KNOW anyone.> You know Ms. Rebecca 'Young enough to be your daughter' Bennet. As well as a large number of individuals in the fields of social services and law enforcement. It's certainly a mystery, then. Convenient, that. He sat there for a moment longer, debating the pros and cons of hocking a loogie in the face of destiny, or of at least whoever was on the phone. But with a sigh, he determined that 'Aunt' Martha (thank God she doesn't require he call her Mom) hadn't done anything to deserve such a phlegmatic dress-down. "Oh-kayyyyyy!" he hollered, rose from the stump, and jogged out from behind the barn and towards the farmhouse. "There you are, boy." Aunt Martha May Baggs was a big woman, stout like a rhino and smiling like a sun beam. "Some girl is on the phone. She's talking about going to the mall." Jason leapt up over the final steps leading up to the farmhouse, landing lightly on the porch, unwinded by his quick jaunt. "Um, do I know anyone like that?" he said, casting a puzzled glance at the woman. "I've been...kind of out of it, these last few days." Which was putting it mildly; for all he knew, he had been introduced to this person the day Social Services dropped him off, and had agreed to go cow-tipping, or something. "I think it will do you some good to go out with peers." Mrs. Baggs smiled at her foster son radiantly. The dog at her feet seemed to nod and grin as well. "You can't mope around the farm all your life." "Huh." Shrugging, he went inside and picked up the phone. "Um, hello?" "Hey Jason." The voice was incredibly light over the line. "We were thinking about shopping and Poster said you would want to go with us." Poster Rollins was on the school newspaper, and lived just down the road from the Baggs's farm. "Oh, right. Rollins." Jason vaguely recalled the name being mentioned at some point in the last few days; quite possibly from one of Martha's `you're going to love it here' speeches. Unfortunately, a description of this person, much less their gender, had not been included in the conversation. more teenage girls.> You are going to agree, then. amphibians.> "Ah, sounds good. Thanks for the invite." "As the new kid, you're buying." The bubbly voiced smiled. "It's tradition. We'll be by to pick you up in ten." He made vague pleasantries with the as-yet-unidentified individual on the other side, then managed to hang up. "Right," he said, turning to Martha. "So, I guess I'm going to the mall with someone." "That's good, dear." Aunt Martha smiled. "Don't be too late. We're having cabbage and potatoes." Thinking back to when dinner occurred yesterday, he nodded, then headed out the door. He sat on the steps, reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, and pulled out his billfold. Jason had a twenty. Not much, but enough for something small, maybe a burger meal. Sighing, he put his wallet back in his pocket, and quietly waited for the inevitable kidnapping by unknown, aggressively friendly, female, forces that was about to occur. Did you know that potatoes are a higher source of potassium than bananas? Well, except for the rhythmic headbanging. But that was only to be expected. A red Jeep arrived in a few minutes. The beeping of a horn told Jason to hurry up. Aunt Martha May smiled and waved at the visitors. A red Jeep arrived in a few minutes. The beeping of a horn told Jason to hurry up. From the living room window, Aunt Martha May smiled and waved at the visitors. As Jason stood, he could hear her open the screen door and come over to where he was standing. "Remember to stay on your best behavior, and watch out for ducks," she murmured from behind as she slipped something into his jacket pocket. "Have fun." He turned slightly and, sighting her out of the corner of his eye, gave a crisp nod. “Will do.” The dog, having followed her outside, jumped up on Jason's leg, smiling at him ferociously. Then he proceeded to sit near his mistress, tongue hanging down. Jason peered at her doggy companion. “You too,” he said, before ruffling the canine's ears. With that, he jumped lightly off the steps and walked towards the jeep, fishing into his pocket. Finding a folded ten-dollar bill, he smiled slightly, and put it back inside. Arriving at the passenger-side door, he peered in at the occupants. “Ah, hi.” Poster Rollins smiled in the back of the jeep, white teeth in a round face, head almost shaved. Jason didn't know the other two passengers like he did Poster, and he didn't know Poster all that well. Two females, one a blond, the other a red head. One of them had to be the one that called. "Hey, Jason." The red head waved a come-on gesture. "Come on. We're the welcoming committee."

Re: SoloUberCampaign:Adventures of the Dark Page 3- Tavin knew from the damage that things were not good for the woman, she had not responded so she probably wasn't conscious, He moved in a bit closer and tried once again to talk to the woman, he wondered if he wouldn't have just opened the door and checked her pulse if he was just some random passerby, but he wasn't. He moved up and reached in to tentatively check her pulse. It seemed weak and slow. She might die at any time. Tavin saw the bad shape the woman was in and decided it was time for action, he opened the door and reached in and attempted to do what he could for the poor woman. Tavin didn't know what he could do, but a check allowed him to see that he could move her so she was comfortable. All the damage seemed to be to her skull. Once moved, if he had to he could perform CPR. Sirens told him he didn't have to wait long for help. "Damn, this is why you don't drink and drive..." Tavin watched her breathing to make sure she survived until the EMS crew got there. "Come on lady hold on, they are almost here." A white van with Washington EMS on the side rolled up with a flurry of flashing lights. The paramedics took over from Tavin, asking him questions as they worked. Then the police arrived with their forms to fill out. Once Tavin saw the woman was safely in the EMT's hands he nodded and stepped into a shadow, and stepped out way out of their vision, he then leaped away, no sense pushing it speaking to the police. He would probably have to trash this phone to his father would want him to. He continued his patrol, he wasn't looking for some idiot drunk driver, he would use the phone one more time before trashing it, he would check on the woman and make sure she was okay. He continued searching for anything of interest. The Dark saw a glimmer of light near the entrance to one of the little cemeteries that dotted the cityscape. At eight o'clock, he was aware it was much too late to be burying someone, even in the summer time. Hmmm, now that is interesting. Time to check it out! Dark leapt to where he had a vantage point from the shadows and could look in and see what was going on but without being seen and he examined the entrance, What exactly was going on... "Lets see" Dark thought to himself. The three boys put a wooden chest on one grave. They lit candles, murmuring something Tavin couldn't hear. The grave burst open, red light bathing the trio. The chest burst open. A hand lifted from the grave. "Damn! What the hell are they doing?" Tavin leapt forward to the open door and as he did he formed a complex set of hand gestures ... and unleashed the house of Darkness level 2. The spot in the cemetery was bathed in darkness, clear as day for Dark but for the boys He was certain things just went sideways. From the behind the door he peered in and bellowed out in his best imitation of an adult males pissed off voice: "Why do you disturb the slumber of the dead? Tell me and perhaps I will grant you your freedom." Dark watched them carefully for any sign of weapons, He also watched the hand If it stood up he could surely have a true problem. He would see what seemed to be the greatest threat and react from there. He is kinda hoping that the idiots may talk back to him instead of moving, that they may even think (if they haven't done this before) that this is normal and they should tell the voice what's what. Plus, he would like to know why. "Yes, why do you disturb the slumber of the dead?" The voice was feminine, sultry, lighting up the nerves in Tavin with the urge to do something. A woman ascended from the grave, curly auburn hair blowing in the wind. A shroud hung around her in red cloth. She smiled slightly. Tavin flashed back to the picture his father had painted and looked at this woman who now lifted from the grave, well this was going south quickly. Tavin followed up his original house of shadows with the other house of shadows. Best to prepare things for a battle the least threatening way. He continued to watch and wait he was as interested in what they had to say, it seemed, as this undead woman was. Tavin was about forty feet away across an open field marked with little tombstones, or flat markers. The woman lifted her hand, displaying a mark on the palm. She vanished in the spray. The three boys glared in the darkness. Light crossed their faces and hands. The mark on the woman's palm wrote on them, one piece for each. Tavin had a very bad feeling about it, probably better get one of them away from this woman right now, Tavin leapt to the nearest boy landed grabbed the boy and pushed off with all his might jettisoning himself out of the graveyard and back out into the light of the street. He didn't know what was going on but too many horror movies started this way, and the stupid humans ended up as sacrifices. This generally gave the sacrificer or the one eating the sacrifices incredible power, and well, best to suppress that ASAP. The boy, face noticeably paler and thinner, spread his arms open. Tavin found himself in a dark world, surrounded by things that looked at him as dinner. He could feel them tense to surge and eat him with a rending and tearing. "Sh*t!" That didn't work, Thank the lord I can get out of here, Tavin raised a hand to his face and reappeared in the corner he had previously picked which was a little away from this crazy kid and his evil little monsters. He may be in something very deep all of a sudden. Tavin realized his teleportation would not work across dimensional planes. "Well, that won't work, hmm, this could be bad. Well, I jumped into it hopefully there is a way out." He scanned about in search of an exit from this place and prepared to fight for his life. Tavin saw a slowly closing hole in the air. The biggest animal decided to charge and missed the smaller darkness user, landing with a clawing screech on the ground.

Re: Notes from NSU Day Two Simon Poole started learning control of his body, escaped the tub with some trickery, and wrecked Dr. Moto's lab before escaping in front of a plasma jet into a local sewer. He heard about Ashlee Summer raiding the Midnight Wolves, and got into enough to gain a ride to his sister in law's, then his shop. He took a black axe out of his safe, concealing it on his person before he fell asleep. When he woke up he made his way to his house and was reunited with his wife and family while they were reporting him missing. Ashlee Summer hung out with Marian Cheek, Jake Lowengard's roommate until she dropped off. Ash then waited for Jake, and they hung out until he also turned in. She flew over to the Midnight Wolves's HQ, and commenced wrecking the place and battling the members of the Wolves. After being helped by Simon Poole, and learning the Wolves were werewolves, she went back to Jake's and turned in herself. Jake and Marian took Ashlee to the gym and shopping before Ash and Jake had to get to work at the Adam's Rib. Melody Jennings stayed at Casey Dawson's apartment over his school. The next day they went to pay the Hilton, and claim her stuff. They head over to her place next, packing some clothes for her. Dawson paused on the ride back to his building when he spotted a sign at a strip club: "Ashlee Summer, Supergirl live." Dawson and Jennings take Moe Shrevnitz's taxi back to the Rib that night. They get a table as Jake and Ash arrived for their shift. A meeting between one of the Midnight Wolves and a group of Dead Boys, a mercenary gang, took place at the bar. Dawson followed the Wolf out after the meeting. Ash tried to feel the meeting out and was rebuffed. The Dead Boys opened fire on the bar patrons. Ashlee killed all three with her bare hands. Jennings and later Dawson started helping the wounded and calling the authorities. Ash and Jake spent the rest of the night looking at mug shots while Dawson and Jennings promised to come in the next day. They return to his building to rest up for the next day. Jessie Rainhawk got a room, went to the beach, looked at the lighthouse, and got hamburgers. She found a listing for Dawson's Institute for Martial Arts in the phone book and decided to check it out in case they knew the Cory Dawson who sent her the warning.

Re: xialin showdown Page 15- Jade saw the three ghosts retreat to gather up their power to attack again. Their master had already ascended the stairs, headed for the street in front of the restaurant. It was up to Jade to save herself and Kagome. Not wanting to give the enough time to gain more power Jade moves up and dose a spinning jump kick to the ghosts and kept on attacking fast and hard until they go down and blocking or dodging whenever she needed to. The kick missed the ducking third ghost. He retaliated with punch that Jade blocked. Then Jade clawed him to streamers. Jade slashed at the next ghost with her claws and tried to block any attacks. The two exchange some sparring blows. Kagome shot an arrow at the other ghost, making him retreat up the stairs. He leaped across the room and cut across her body with his phantom sword. The shrine maiden collapsed in a pool of blood. Jade looked shocked and screamed, " NOOOOO!!!! Damn you all will pay for this." Rage came over her face as she looked over to the ghosts and jumped at them with quick powerful attack and not letting up until they are gone and tried to block their attacks. The second ghost repulsed Jade, blocking then slicing her with his glowing sword. She fell down the stairs, blood welling from the slice in her body. She landed close to Kagome at the feet of the first soldier. Something, possibly one of Kagome's arrows poked her back where she lay on the floor. Jade ground her teeth as she reached behind her and grabbed whatever is poking her, hoping it's one of Kagome's arrows. She got up and stabbed at the ghost with it. The ghost slashed the arrow, then Jade with a flicker of his blade. Blood flew as the heiress went down again. This might be the end. Knowing she could not take much more and could not give up, for if she did, they would both die. Jade fought through the pain and kept on the attack, and trying to dodge as their lives depended on it. She shouted, "No. I will not give up!" more to herself then to them. Jade was able to drive it back and blocked the next attack. But a kick drove her back against the dry rack, shaking the unfolded boxes and cartons of spices. Jade began to spend like a top, slashing with her fingernails. She ripped the ghost apart, sending ectoplasm everywhere. The third ghost waited for you to stop before he attacked. He's not charging into a demon blender. She stopped and waited for the last ghost to attack to do it again once it is close enough. He kicked Jade back against the rack raising his sword for the finishing blow. She tried to spin out of the way and behind him quickly to attack. He blocked the attack, going for a slash. Jade slashed with her fingers, ripping the ghost in two before he brought the sword down. The basement was empty except for the wounded Kagome. Jade quickly checked on Kagome to make sure she was still alive and called for help. Kagome is out of it, bleeding badly. She needed to have the bleeding stopped somehow. Jade tried to stop the bleeding, at least try to slow it down until help can get there before she went after the other ghost. The bandaging made Kagome look like a mummy but it worked, using her clothes for bandages. Jade ran up the stairs. There was no sign of Song Wing, the original ghost, or the Ghost King. Jade found a hoof print in the street, pointing to the left. Jade went back do to Kagome and waited for help to arrive to send some of the guys to follow the tracks for her. Minutes later, the "hatchet" men arrived and started doing their jobs as professionally as criminal scum can, cleaning up the blood, taking Kagome to the doctor, repairing what they can. They insisted that Jade go to a doctor also. She will but just for a quick patch up. They took Jade in for stitches, bandages, medicine, the whole bag. She was stuck for a few hours. She told them to hurry it up. She has things to do and can't waste time with all this. Despite Jade's urging, the doctor and her men took their time. She waited until the majority was patched up and said, "Screw the rest." She got up to leave. The bodyguards block the way, saying no, she has to stay until she was well, then not go anywhere without them again. Her dad has passed the word down. She looked at him and said, "Don't screw with me. Get the hell out of the way, or you will be the one that will need the doctor." The leader of the eight body guards said, "Mr Lee has spoken. You stay no matter how long, then you go home." "And my father gave me a job to do and I plan on getting it done so now move or I will and you know I can. So just make it easy on yourselves and do as I say. If you have the guts, then came with me and be quick about it. But not you, or anyone, will stop me from doing what I need to do." She moved to the door. "We can't let you go" The leader of the body guards blocked the door. "Your father said go home." "Don't make me move you or hurt you because if you try and stop me I will hurt you. I will deal with my father after I am done." The bodyguard zapped Jade with a taser from behind. Then they knocked Jade out. Jade woke up in her room on the second floor of her house, locked in. Jade went to her window and checked it. It's nailed shut. She could see the bright heads of the nails buried in the wood. She cut the glass with her nails to get out. The glass popped out easily enough. She quickly got dress and jumped out the window to the tree by her window and made her way by running and jumping from tree to tree, then to the wall and over. She kept out of sight and as quiet as she could. It hurt but Jade easily made it over the wall but she had no money, car, phone, and anyone who knew her would report her to her father. Jade did have everything she needed in a storage that nobody knew about. She had been putting money and things she might need in hiding just in case something ever happened to her, or her family. She walked there, taking the back streets. Jade made it to Far East Self Storage without being recognized, the spare key to the lock is where she hid it so she didn't have to break it open. All her supplies were there. She took what she needed and left the rest and drove her Mustang out of the storage unit and locked up then headed back out to try and find the tracks herself. Once she was on the road she called Johnny Woo. Returning to the scene of the crime, Jade found that one hoof print. She tried to see if she could find more and where they led too. Driving around, she found another hoofprint heading west. She kept on following it and call Mr Woo to see if he will help. "Hello, Miss Lee. It's always a pleasure to hear from you." "Hello Mr. Woo, I'm sorry but I'm just going to cut to the point.. I'm call you to see if you willing to help me out with a problem I am having without talking to my father." "I am very expensive, and very discrete. Don't tell me you want to kill your father." "No and don't even play that way." "So what is the nature of your problem?" "I need some help tracking down and taking of the ghost problem, and getting back what he took." "It seems like you need a ghost expert. That's not me." "Been there done that. I need the big guns now. I need your help." "I'll call around. If you are avoiding your father, I suggest you stay out of China town until we know what's going on. Go to ground somewhere cheap. What's your phone number?" "Fine. My number is 479-9623, and thanks."

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Finished Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Jones. It's a nice romance bound in whimsy and a light touch. CES

Re: The Magistracy's Legion Cast of Characters- The Magistracy Jerry Silver- Lightning flinger Maker- Gadgeteer with the ability to create instant gadgets, and link to computers and machinery. John Public- A psychic that gains strength, speed, and toughness from the people around him, as well as telepathy and forming mind links. Quick-Speedster Luna- Martial artist Phaeton- Solar powered hero Chemist- magician based on written symbols The CORPS Jonah Charles- Financier The Persian- Android Crystalmach- magic user based on shapes of crystals The Graft- Ex-agent given a third arm in the middle of his chest The Believer- Possessor of a magic killing pistol. Cowboy- Growing minotaur The Empty- Teleporter and living gateway Blood Knife- Energy blade maker. The School Pointer- Gunslinger with mental guns The Saint- Cleric Puma Sai- Mutant ninja cougar Holo- Light based hero Beatnik- Agility based martial artist Triple- A psychic that is split in three bodies. Watcher- Helmet and semi armor that allows him to fire eye beams, see in all spectrums, and hook into a satellite network and look down on the field from space. Granite- Brick Fortress- Growing heroine The Replacement- Flying brick Currenta- Water elemental Poster Girl- power mimic The Markers Mr. Rickert- Ex-agent given an evil eye Tempest Martin- Weather controller Kat Friday- team brick Cole Colbane- Fluid shapeshifter Brady Baggins- Fire starter Andy Chen- Air controller Ray Hammet- Ex-agent with an endoskeleton Buddy- Protector of the Universe V- Buddy's advisor The Lizard- Chicago super cop

Re: The Magistracy's Legion epilogue The four men convened around the conference table in Magistracy Tower, drinking coffee, and waving Jerry Silver's smoke away. Jerry, Pointer, Watcher and the Persian had taken a few days to make sure they weren't needed before working on the reports they had to file. The Persian had already talked to his boss, and that was enough for him. "How's the Chemist doing, Silver?." Pointer looked at his notes, hoping that he had glossed over the two strangers that had escaped into the crowd before anyone thought to stop them. A small windstorm had gotten in the way. "He's doing." Silver puffed, sipped his coffee, and looked at the paperwork in front of him. The UN wouldn't give him a budget without a confirmed batch of notes to the threat being world ending. "Any luck finding those other guys?" "No." The Watcher had lifted his visor of his helmet so he could enjoy drinking with the rest. "I don't know how they did it. Somehow they beat my sat network, and got away. I can't even begin to say I know what happened to that Buddy guy." "Well, Enoch got away." Silver ground his cigarette out on the table. "I saw him before Believer busted us loose. His dad sent him away." "Crys couldn't track him." The Persian stood instead of sitting. "She thinks he got shuttled to a dimension that she can't touch yet." "He'll come on strong, wanting revenge for what was done." Silver sat back. "It looks like the only loose ends are Krueger and the money Scriptus owned." "The doctor and his staff are properties of the US Government." Pointer tapped the table slightly. "They want to use him to make more things like Missile Man. Living weapons are so much better than what we have now." "Don't start." Watcher shook his head. "Everything that Scriptus owned in his headquarters in Houston, and around the world was seized. Someone from DOT is running things until the company can be broken and sold off." "DOT?" Silver's face tried to crawl for his hairline. "Department of Transportation?" "Treasury." Watcher saw the blank look. "IRS, Secret Service." "Putting the IRS in charge of money is like expecting a whole hand when you put your fingers in a meat slicer." Silver shook his head. "Scriptus still down?" "Yes." Pointer looked at the monitors around the room. "He's locked up in a cell. Chemist did a number on his brain with that stunt he pulled." "Couldn't happen to a better guy." Silver passed a cd over to the two members of the School and the purple and gold CORPS honcho. "Those are the tapes Maker downloaded from Krueger's lab." "So we don't need the Nazi." Pointer started to smile. "Maybe we can get his deal rescinded." "Maybe we can hand him over to the Israelis for trial." Watcher pulled his helmet's mask down to cover his face. "That should get some brownie points for us." "Your director wouldn't like that." The Persian smiled slightly. "Our director cares more about photo opportunities than doing real work." Pointer grimaced. "He's the guy we would all love to frame for something." "Spoken like field agents the world over." Silver smiled. "Is there anything else, guys?" "I think we got it all covered except that Buddy guy." Pointer rubbed his face. "What do we say about him?" "Nothing." Silver pressed a few buttons on the table. A group image appeared of the assemblage at the castle. "Notice anything?" "Our guy isn't there." Watcher leaned closer. "Why? Wait. Where did you get this?" "I gave it to him." The Persian indicated his false eyes. "It's from my memory of what happened in the castle." "He's not there in any of the pictures of that room." Silver waved a hand to say don't ask me. "Maker couldn't find him." "I remember seeing him, and his advisor," The Persian said. "I can't explain why neither are in my memories, or in the downloads of memories." "Magic." Pointer sipped more coffee. "That's what triggered everything in the first place. Magic explains it all." "Magic is not an explanation." Watcher flushed under his dark skin. "I agree that's what happened. The Director wants a tangible threat evaluation." "Good luck on that." Silver stood. "Sometimes the best you can do is say it's over. Let's move on to the next thing."

Re: The Magistracy's Legion 36 Fred Simpson lived in an alley in Manhattan with a space just big enough for his box. He wore clothes from mission boxes. He ate out of dumpsters when he ate at all. Sometimes he drank for the taste. He certainly couldn't get drunk anymore. Fred had been someone once. He traded that for the privilege of being the protector of the universe. At the time it seemed like the thing to do. He felt he was at a dead end, and needed something to lift him out of all his problems. He didn't realize how much it would change his life, change his timeline, erase everything that made him Fred Simpson. Everything gone, but the memory of what he had signed away on a cold day at the edge of the East River. People called him Buddy, Mac, Mister, and sometimes Wino. No one called him Fred. That was a never was. Buddy stood as tall as a galaxy, as ephemeral as a ghost. His vision took in lines of rotating platters that were the worlds/dimensions hooked to Earth and Ozmikia. The two golden discs touched, fractures running along the edges. Any second they would shatter like clay pigeons in a shooting gallery. Then the other realms would collapse into their vacuum, possibly breaking into their parts as they went. Let me fix that. Buddy placed his hands between the joining plates. He pushed on them as firmly as he dared. The thought that he could pierce the envelopes of the two worlds and destroy them made sure that he was gentle. The dimensions drew back into their ordained places, falling into their slots like beads on a chain. He smoothed over any ripples as best that he could. It wasn't perfect, but he didn't see how to improve things over what he had done. Buddy grabbed the plate that was the universe. He entered it through the top, shrinking as he fell back toward the Earth. He made sure not to disturb other inhabitants of the vast space, some humans wouldn't see ever. His starry form merged with the Milky Way, sank to a sun as he approached the Earth, became normal height as he floated down through the atmosphere. Buddy blinked across several boundaries to reappear over the ruined castle. He floated in midair, watching the duel without interfering. He could easily smash the area like a child with a toy. His impulse was to drop a fist like a meteor in the middle of things to express his ire. Instead he sat on the air and waited. Maybe V was rubbing off on him. He didn't know if that thought deserved more contemplation. He decided to not think about it and watch the fight below. The Chemist and Scriptus formed whole words as they exchanged volleys of death rays, weird creatures, deadly things appearing out of thin air. At one point, blades of glowing letters danced between the two magicians like mad fencers. Sweat rolled from their bodies as their stage shrank, grew, became a thousand pieces of floating rock, settled to sand, bloomed into a man eating plant. The magistrate touched his glasses with a finger tip as he seemed to stagger and fell. Buddy tensed as Scriptus approached with a gloating smile, and half completed symbol. Maybe he would have to do something after all. "Surrender, Chemist." Scriptus smiled. "I'll spare your life." "I was going to say the same thing." The Chemist stared at his opponent. "I don't think so." Scriptus moved to stab with the rest of the letter he had created. Weird light erupted from the Chemist's sunglasses. It enveloped the other writer. He looked around, holding his hands up as if something had slipped through his fingers. He screamed quietly as the light shut off. Only Buddy realized what happened, maybe the glass lady from the CORPS would have if she had been able to see it like he had. A smile crossed his thoughts, but he knew the Chemist had maimed his enemy worse than simply killing him would have done. The Chemist punched the hysterical Scriptus as hard as he could to get him on the ground. Then he put on manacles to keep him there while he dealt with the rest of the fallout. The remaining members of the School and Quick and the sleeping Maker arrived. He went into his counter spell to send everything back the way it had been. Buddy reached into the growing symbol, spurring it on. A town grew around the gathered heroes, became a city of people wondering what had happened. Maker awoke in John Public's arms, laughing with him. Jerry Silver lit one more cigarette as he watched the battleground reverse itself around him. Buddy blinked out. Manhattan was calling him, and he had to make sure his box was right where he liked it. He didn't get any licks in, but at least Scriptus would never work another spell again. All of his magic had gone into the Chemist like light in a black hole. Buddy walked the streets of his home, garbed in his rags, and gave another bum a dollar as he passed. Time to have a better day.

Re: The Magistracy's Legion I know it's too cute and all but I was under extreme pressure for a name. CES

Re: The Magistracy's Legion 35- Lord Scriptus felt his anchor snap in faraway Texas. He closed his eyes, knowing that he had stopped one group, but the other had taken Enoch. He needed time to rethink the spell, to rework the parameters so he wouldn't burn up. Of course the two dimensions crashing together out of control had to be stopped. First he had to save his son. The writer formed two symbols in the air while still filling in the slots on the floor as fast as his hands could trace the letters. The summoning brought his injured son to the invisible castle, battered but free. He needed to rethink his strategy. He still had three sources he could use to bolster his own powers for as long as they remained in stasis. He needed to get rid of his visitors. So much for the idea of using them as templates for future soldiers. Better a dead enemy than a live nuisance. The writer raised his hands to sacrifice his victims where they laid bound. That would give him enough of a push to straighten the dimensional balance until he could try again. They would save the Earth, just not the way they wanted. A wave of psychic pressure ripped up the floor in a trench, battering against the spell wall that formed the fulcrum of the merging spell. Lord Scriptus slid back under the mental power hacking up his sanctum from the door. He must have missed one of the defenders somehow. He could fix that easily enough, but first he had to make sure Enoch was safe. Scriptus wrote on the air. Enoch vanished, surrounded by the letters. Everything would be told to him whether the writer made his own escape, or not, in the next few minutes. It was the best he could do while tied to the castle. Believer rolled on top of the pile of bodies. He thought it was some desperate gesture. He sealed the door from intruders with two moves of his fingers. Buying time meant a chance to rebuild his defenses before something worse happened. Believer's pistol roared white flame. Her arms snapped free as the bullet burned away her bonds. The dragon kept going, smashing open the Chemist's cell as it passed. He quivered as he tried to remember what he should do. Believer snapped her pistol forward, firing two more flame throwing blasts at the writer. This was the end for the mage if she could help it. Scriptus wrote build shield mirror wall in quick succession as the twin blasts hurtled toward him. The ground at his feet erupted into a silvery barrier in front of him. He hoped it would stop the flaming doom bearing down on him. The two shots struck the column around the wizard. The spell craft shattered under the impact. The beams hit the mirror, crazing it over into a spider web before bouncing into the ceiling. The barrier over the door came apart under another blast of psychic turbulence. Rocks shattered into pieces and tried to pierce anything in the way. I have to get out of here. This is getting out of control. Believer stood among her allies, pistol leveled, black armor highlighting the white cross on the front into a glowing mark. The Chemist stood to her left, awake and aware. A large group of meddlers stood at the door, a man with mismatched eyes leading the charge, bordered by Triple. Scriptus summoned his gargoyles, filling up the room. That should buy him time to get away. Too bad about the Earth and Ozmikia. There were other places he could go to restart. "Kill them all, Captain." Scriptus ordered as he prepared to follow his son into exile. "Don't let any of them escape." "Run away, coward." Silver looked up, still trying to get his arm wrap off. "We're easy pickings here." Graft's voice sounded from under Cowboy. "Think about it." "I call for a duel, Scriptus." Chemist's voice cut through the turmoil as he wrote on the air. "It's time we meet on the field of honor." The wrappings around the captives fell away, the opponents on each side froze as the dimension spell stopped flowing on the stone. The Persian dropped from the ceiling in an invisible grip. Buddy uttered profanity as he came awake. Crystalmach joined her team leader, standing by his side. "Just you and me, writer versus writer." The Chemist straightened his glasses. "Are you sure you know what you're doing, Chemist?" Silver fished out a cigarette and lit it. "Yes." The Chemist looked around. "This is your only chance to escape, Scriptus. What do you say?" "I agree." The writer looked at the assemblage surrounding his soldiers. They would buy time, but he had lost either way. A duel would give him his freedom. "My freedom versus captivity." "I agree." The Chemist flexed his hands. "Shall we?" The two mages wrote symbols depicting the battlefield of their choice. The castle started to fall into ordered heaps, moving spectators out of the way. The gargoyles moved to one side, the conglomeration of three teams to the other side. Silver smoked his cigarette as he brushed the dust off his jacket and khakis. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" Pointer stood next to Silver. "I can pop him with one shot from here." "We can let the Chemist handle this." Silver tossed the butt away. "The problem that bothers me is what's happening while we're doing this." "The universes are crashing together instead of simply surfing slowly into each other, young man." A man leaning on a cane seemed to step out of shadow. "I think you can do something about that, Buddy." "Can't it wait?" Buddy's red eyes glowed. "This guy made me into a patsy. I want some kind of payback." "It'll have to wait." V tapped his cane against the platform. "The universe is more important." "I'm going." Buddy seemed to grow until he faded to a shadow of himself. "Give him one for me, pal." Then the protector of the universe disappeared completely.

Re: The Magistracy's Legion 34- The Battle of Houston started with Watcher's go ahead. Checking his satellites showed that Maker had entered the building through the roof. She had gone to the floor where the single heat source still sat. The picture went blank from some kind of discharge. Then the guy took center stage again. The Watcher knew that Maker's armor could be blocking his heat vision. If she was down in the room, he couldn't order a full assault. Her boyfriend would have his head, not to mention Silver. Additionally simply bringing down a building in the middle of Houston was out of question. "Granite, Replacement, Fortress. You three enter the lobby and roll up to the thirty-third as fast as you can. Currenta. We need you to come in undercover." Watcher hoped the three heavy hitters could handle things while the elemental was getting into place. "Quick, we're going in first for an assessment. If Maker is down, you get her clear and come back." "Everybody ready?" The heroes nodded. "Let's go." The Replacement swept Granite and Fortress up in his arms and barreled toward the lobby. He flung Granite in front of him, letting the stone body smash through the front doors in a spray of glass. Currenta flowed behind the man in the black, filling the slots surrounding the glass windows. She started up the outside of the building. "Hold your breath, Watcher." Quick took three deep breaths as she watched the others. She grabbed Watcher around the waist as he fiddled with his helmet. Then they stood in the office. Watcher was supposed to identify himself as an officer of the law, ask for a cease and desist all activities, and ask for hands up, face down. He saw that Maker lay on the floor, writing wandered on the floor by itself, and the subject was surprised by their arrival. Maker vanished as he triggered his helmet. He'd risk a lawyer getting the guy off later. A beam bright as a noon day sun lit up the room. Watcher didn't miss the lines of a column rising out of the floor. That made his choice of a flare better than trying to punch through with his laser. Watcher made a split second decision based on his combat experience as a School team leader. He hoped he wouldn't be court-martialed after everything was said and done. "Fortress, I need you to blow the floor out ASAP." Watcher switched to the laser, smiling grimly as the beam splattered against the shield. Quick reappeared at Stark's side, as he went back to the flare. The mage looked like he was recovering his sight. "Get ready." Watcher stepped back to the edge of the room. A giant fist crashed through the floor. The office came apart. The mage looked around, panic erasing his abilities. He fell down the shaft the giantess had smashed through from the tenth floor. A wave of lightning formed a wall as the letters exploded on the remains of the floor. Quick snatched Watcher up and fled. She carried him down past the falling floors, furniture, smashed ceiling tiles, and broken lights while they were still trying to decide which path to follow. The mage's fall took him in the middle of that mess, random objects beating him as gravity exerted its hold. He wrote to clear a bubble of open space so he could work some magic to deal with the meddlers. The Replacement slammed against the mage, smashing him against a wall. Gloved hands punched the writer in the face, snapping his brain around in his skull enough to induce sleep. The black marvel descended with his prize. The debris fell into the lobby, sending Granite scrambling for cover. He winced at the huge pile of junk heading for the street. The rest of the building started down after it. "Overkill?" Quick and Watcher stood outside the monolith, looking at the caving in of the villain's headquarters. "I didn't think it would fold like a house of cards." Watcher's helmet didn't hide the chagrin in his voice. "We have to do something to keep it from falling on the rest of the buildings." A huge bubble of water surrounded the black monolith. It remained in place for a minute, holding the building up. Then it slowly rained down, letting the fragments drop down without harming anything. The Replacement followed Granite from the rubble. Fortress wiped water from the front of her tunic as she stepped out of the pile. The impromptu lake whirled into a woman's form, walking behind the rest. "I'm impressed." Quick smiled behind her tinted faceplate. "I'm surprised." Watcher took a look at the Kansas situation as his team reassembled. "I didn't think Currenta could do that." "Maker's out of it." Quick glanced in the direction where she had hidden her teammate. "I think something has been done to her." "Let's solve the rest of the problem." Watcher didn't state the obvious. If they didn't stop what was going on in Kansas, Maker's sleeping would not be that big a problem.

Re: Help: Folk Heroes. Brick: John Henry. (North Americans, particularly the blue collar type). *FIXED* Energy Projector: Thunderbird, Indian spirits of lightning Gadgeteer: FEBOLD FEBOLDSON a logger who left Paul Bunyan's camp to settle in the west. Martial Artist: Wong Fei Hong. (Chinese, particularly the Cantonese). *FIXED* Mentalist: I can't think of any off hand Mystic: Math, Talisein, Thomas the Rhymer, Mananan Mac Lir Powered Armour: Joe Magarac has been suggested, and he was a man of steel. Speedster: Casey Jones? Weaponmaster Robin Hood? Pecos Bill? William Tell? CES

Re: SoloUberCampaign:Adventures of the Dark Page 2- "The end of the world eh? wow, the third prophecy you said what is that? And what did you expect my father to do about it?" "The third prophecy is the third of seven handed down. They are sometimes called the Seven Days. They predict apocalypses that should be stopped, or at least tried to stop. The timekeeper is one of our number. We had hoped that he would prevent or change the outcome of events. His mastery of premonition has long been held in high regard." The rain slowed with the clearing of the clouds into ribbons of afternoon light and streamers of grey overhead. Frogs hopped away. They looked as big as softballs. The bee sound slowed around the Master Boxer. As it ran to silence, a few rain drops plopped against his wicker hat, and jacket shoulders. "So what your saying is that he is trying to stop the end of the world? So what does this prophecy say? What is coming? And how can I help?" "The third day says In the land of the eagle, under the eyes of its dead kings, darkness and light shall battle with the weapon of Arthur among the remnants of history. None shall know who their enemy is in their war. When the Gatekeeper seeks knowledge, the dead shall walk, the living shall hate and fear, and the keys of U-rai shall unlock the seals. The toad of U-Rai will send forth his minions to cause destruction in preparation. The sleeping will dream death and misery for the waking world. Imprisoned in a cell of flesh and blood, the mind has decided to wreak havoc. Only the touch of the innocent will stir her to mercy once more. Beware the three lines of destruction, the monsters that sprout from the mind, the monsters that awaken from ancient sleep, the one monster that kills with his touch. They will want death for those they see when they return home. Only a hero may ascend over all challenges and make things right, with allies, will, and the knowledge of his enemies' weaknesses. When the three rivals find their common goal, victory requires sacrifice." "Well then, I am so glad you let me know about that.... How can I help? I am guessing it isn't just you and my dad that are trying to stop this stuff. I might be able to help, what needs to be done?" "Now that you know what's coming, you only have to sit and watch." The old man smiled. "Prophecy can't be changed, only endured. Good luck." The boxer turned and walked away, dry slippers gliding over wet concrete. The large frogs hopped to get out of his way, some stared at Tavin with their yellow eyes. "Well, thats what you say. I am going to stop it...." Tavin looked around and then returned to his house well then time to bother dad and see what we can see. When he returned home he went down to his father's studio downstairs. "So, are you going to tell me what that was all about?" "I'm retired, son." Dachi looked at the half finished painting on the stand. "A lot of my former power is gone, lost to age. And the Seven Days are dangerous, too dangerous for me, and too dangerous for you." "The Seven Days? Can you at least tell me what is going on, is it really the end of the world? If so it doesn't matter if it is too dangerous I have to do something either way." "A long time ago, a man named Arthur Woad had a dream." Dachi went to a cabinet. He pulled out a drawer on the side. Canvases hung there. "He dreamed that the world would face threats seven times. These threats should be opposed at whatever the cost. "The council formed to see the world through the Days, two of which have passed." He revealed a picture of a green frog dwarfing the city. "The third day is supposed to be caused by the Frog of U-Rai. A jungle is supposed to be spread across the earth until humanity is gone." "So we just have to stop this Frog, U-rai and the forest will stop? I kind of like humanity, and well I wouldn't like it if it went away. So how do we stop this U-Rai guy, thing, beast, frog, dangit whatever it is." "The belief is this thing will be summoned from outside time and space." Dachi pulled out another picture. It looked like a woman in a loose red dress, belted around her middle. Her curly hair flowed upwards. "I think this is the summoner." "So we just have to stop this summoner person, and then we have averted the destruction of the world by a slimy supernatural menace?" Tavin smiled at his father, this was turning out to be much more interesting of a day than he had thought it would be and, before school started he might actually save the world like the real heroes did. "You're right." Dachi replaced the picture in the cabinet. "Either way you look at it, we have to do the best we can. I want you to go on patrol and pay attention to anything that might seem out of place. The prophecy will provide clues we can look out for." Tavin looked at his father expectantly, nodded and bolted upstairs to don his costume. Chuckling internally, his father had tricked the council and Tavin himself. He wasn't ignoring his powers, or the danger, he was just doing it his way. Things were different, before his father tolerated his patrols even gave him pointers but never had he sent him out on patrol, this was a big deal and he knew it. His father was trusting him with more responsibility and trusting him out on patrol against something that could destroy the world... YES!!! Tavin grabbed his costume and switched then calmly stepped into the shadow of the room and out of a shadow of a house next door which he immediately stepped back into and continued this for a little while until he was back into his rythm and far enough away that no one could assume that he came from his house, and he began leaping about, with his eyes peeled for anything interesting or out of the ordinary. The late afternoon gave plenty of shadows for Tavin to operate in. The sky still retained some of its gray covering, reducing things to twilight. A car sped through the quiet neighborhood. Tavin could tell that it was easily twenty miles above the limit. Then it hit a pool of water and slid into a pole with a crash of metal and glass. Tavin was there in a second he leapt down to see why the car was racing and why it had wrecked prepared for anything and ensuring his defenses were in place he landed a safe 12 feet from the car and cautiously peered in. The driver had smashed her head against the steering wheel. Apparently she had not asked for airbags. Tavin could smell alcohol, saw blood along the wheel and dashboard, heard a little whine from her lips. Dark whipped out the pre-pay throw away phone his father had set up for just a situation and called the police as he warily moved forward. He informed the 911 operator of the situation quickly and disguised his voice just as his father had instructed, as soon as the information was out of his mouth and he ensured the dispatcher had the right adress, car description and liscense plate he hung up. Tavin knew it was better not to move a person who was injured but if the car was a danger to the woman he would have to act, he moved up cautiously and called out to the woman, "Ma'am, can you hear me?" "It is better if you don't move, an ambulance is on its way." Tavin tried to get a better look at the woman as he moved closer and watched her in between quickly examining the damage on the car. The car was totaled, the engine wrapped around a pole. The front window was cracked, shattered like a spider web. The woman was breathing slowly, blood covered her head and hair, her face looked mishappen. Probably the hit from the steering wheel. Tavin found a bottle of Jack in the floorboard on the other side. It had about two inches at the bottom of the bottle. At least there was no gas leaking to the ground.

Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Mirror of worlds by David Drake. The Kingdom of the Isles has become the Land as a continent has been formed to unite the islands. Garric forces the Coerl to vow to become members of his kingdom, then sets off on a quest to gain aid against the latest menace to his rule. Volumes 1-7 of Buso Renkin by Nobuhiro Watsuki. Kazuki Muto was injured, armed with a weapon that replaced his heart, fought menace after menace, only to be put on a hit list because his weapon can make him a vampire draining all life around him. He has six weeks to find an answer to his problem. CES

Re: Teen Guardians The Guardians 6:15 pm The double date was going well as the two couples talked about anything but personal things when Eric's phone buzzed. Since only three people had the number and two were sitting with him, it was safe to assume that the third person, Pusher, had decided to check in from the hospital. Patty was relaxing--she'd never...well, it'd been years...since she'd relaxed and just...had fun like this; she did push her leg tight against Eric's as she talked with Hard...Anthony's girl friend. "Sorry, business calls," he said picking up the cell phone "Hey what's going on?" Patty nodded and continued to natter, building her reputation as something of a ditz. "Trouble at the hospital." Pusher seemed calm. "She blew him up." The blonde stopped talking as she sensed Eric's sudden tenseness--and she looked at him, a frown creasing her brow. "I see...any idea how?" The hospital was too far from here for him to get too quickly so he was hoping Pusher had more to go with that just the captain was dead. Considering the level of impossibility that it was. She'd of had to been in contact with the captain the day he left or if it was a quick explosion then somehow she knew which hospital he'd go to, which floor. It was as if she was a clairvoyant. Which if that was the case their secret identities were screwed no matter what. "The police are all over the place, blocking the exits." Pusher sounded calm. Of course only another superhuman could block him. "As soon as things die down, I'm going to look around. As far as I can tell, it happened in the MRI room. Any ideas?" "None..Seems I'm tapped out of ideas, man. Keep me posted." Eric switched off the phone looking at the group. "Sorry about the interruption, Hon we might need to go soon." He looked over at Patty. "Don't need your dad getting a better reason to hate me." She smiled wanly. "He doesn't hate you, he won't hate you..." His word of endearment towards her suddenly sank in and she blinked--then blushed. "...but why, oh, its okay, I'm sure you've got a good reason, Eric." She smiled at Anthony and friend. As they moved the door, she looped her fingers through his and whispered, "what's going on?" "Some how she got the captain." he looked at her carefully "She's acting more and more like a mad bomber with no real motive now so I'm having a hard time figuring this out. Authority figures are one thing, but once he was pulled by the police he shouldn't have been a target. Not to mention she either has a very long duration explosive which lasted three days or she really is a mistress of disguise like Pusher guessed." He frowned as they got further away. "They have the hospital on lock down no way in no way out without being seen and checked over carefully." Patty's shoulders slumped. "Darn it." "In short, I get the sickening feeling we're not going to beat her. It's like she's clairvoyant with Precognition." "I just don't know--or Invisible, whatever, we're not going to get into the Hospital--a few weeks ago and twenty years older and I could have--but not now." She jammed her hands into her pockets. "And I don't remember seeing or hearing about any more clues--is this the last one then?" "Yeah, it was the last clue." he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the extra super barn burger handing it to her "I doubt that one burger in there is helping your metabolism but I think right now getting to the hospital should be objective one, even on lock down your speed should keep anyone from trying to sneak out." here he was feeling useless again "I'll get there as soon as possible ... if she's as big a fan as she says she is of Hardball, then maybe she might come out if there was a big target." He smiled a bit. "Anyway get to the hospital I'll try setting up my little trap." Patty took the burger and smiled at him. "Thanks--you're right, I'm still hungry--I'm going to have to refigure this out--my metabolism, I mean." Her smile faded. "Maybe...we could talk Hardball into setting himself up, some big form of challenge against her or something, I don't know." She unwrapped the hamburger, thinking to herself. Eric had a flash of thought, a semi epiphany. The clues detailed who what where and she had struck almost exactly as described in both if she had been one of the detail on the boat guarding the sailor, taking him to the hospital. That was where she planted the bomb. If the bomb was time delayed, she could have made an excuse and left her disguise behind and walked out as someone else. Police radio would have told her about the blown up house which would force her on the street without a cover, so she would have to go to ground somewhere else, somewhere she could be sure no one would look for her. The problem was none of them knew what Blanche looked like. The hamburger evaporated as though it hadn't been there, the only remnants of its passing the sad and empty wrapper; Patty folded it neatly up... Even with that thought it wasn't very helpful, her home was gone, none of them knew her or her 'friends' not that she'd likely go to them. The captain's boat even if she doubled back to use it as a shelter for the night would have police there. So in a sense she'd painted herself into a corner while at the same time they had no idea which corner to look at. Still she had to be getting her supplies from somewhere, these where not exactly the type of explosives that where easily made or produced, maybe there was someone she was mooching off of, someone at the school with access to those supplies. Which if they couldn't catch her meant he just proved himself right that he wasn't meant to be a hero. ...and looked at Eric. With a frown, she hesitated from bursting off towards the hospital and put her arm around his waist. "What's the matter?" she asked quietly. "Your mood just...crashed--I mean, I know we're not doing so good against this Heartbreaker--but..." "Well right about now this heartbreaker just found out we blew up her house which means she has no identity to fall back on. If she is a mistress of disguise this won't last long and she'll need to find a place to stay. Problem is we still have no idea who we're looking for really. Only time I met anyone this thought out in planning was my own mentor." He sighed with exasperation "Her tactics make little to no sense. Supposedly she's in love with Hardball, and yet her very actions, deeds and choices don't even come close to the psychological stand point of a psychotic killer. It's more like she's pretending to be his big sister and wants to make his life miserable." She blinked. "We've ignored something," Patty replied, "and I just figured out what it is--ignore the hospital, because that's done and said, but let's go back to the school--you..." she gulped. "...you can get us in after hours, right?" He nodded "Yeah I can get us back in but wha.." He almost smacked his own forehead "Okay, I feel dumb. They should have our records on file along with photo's. come on lets get going." Patty tagged along--you want me to carry you again--get there quicker..." She picked him up and hit full steam--and headed for the school. The school was still empty and dark from their last visit. The lock on the back door should still be busted from where Pusher had transformed it earlier. Patty put Eric down... Eric noticed the busted lock and opened the door. "Seems I won't need to worry about picking the lock. Come on lets get the office as quickly as we can." ...and patted quickly at the inner thighs of her pants legs. "Ow, hot hot hot, I can't run in jeans, they don't stand running that well, ow ow." She smiled at him. "Okay, let's go..." and interwove her fingers with his after taking a look around. "Library might be good, too, catch the old yearbooks--that'll be a help, too." "Alright then, year books it is." he walked with her to the library taking out his pocket flashlight/keychain. He illuminated the area of the year books. "Hope they have this year's yearbook." "So do I--but even if they do, school records would be a good thing," Patty agreed A shelf behind the counter held yearbooks for the last four years. Last year's were blue and white. Taking the Blue and White Eric proceeded to start looking through the photos for Heart Breakers Alias. He wasn't sure what he was in for but with renewed desire to see this bomber go down he wasn't going to stop till he found it. Patty stood next to him, hands in her back pockets, looking for the picture of Blanche Devereaux... "Eric--once we know what she looks like--let's bounce it off the student ID in the school database--make sure we've got the same girl and she's not faking the name and face." "Good idea Patty." he smiled finding the picture "Well here she is." He ripped the page out not really careing about the book at this moment "Let's go check the ID system." Always the neatnik, Patty slid the book back into its appropriate place on the shelf before following Eric towards the office. The picture in the yearbook was the same as the one in the permanent files. A plain, mousey girl with curly hair looked up at them, smiling just a little. Brown eyes tried to look happy. Thursday the Fourth Nariko 7:30 am Nariko, with a small amount of effort, was able to don her armor and helmet as the door to the other universe yawned open to walk through. The group tied themselves together, with the mechanic girl between Mr. Four, and one of the woman, Sonja. So excited over the whole thing that she could barely *contain* herself, Nariko let herself be tied to the others and waited in almost painful anticipation to cross the dimensional threshold with them. "The path is established, door opening every 24 hours from....now." Mr. Miyama stepped from behind the console and tied on at the head of the line. "Let's go." He led the way into the door. The young teleporter took a deep breath and, nearly shaking from excitement, stepped through the dimensional threshold with the others. The first thing was the sensation of falling. Then balls; multicolored with different features on each, floated by. Ribbons that resembled red lightning drifted by slowly like languid snakes. Her body hit membranes with crinklings of reality. Then Nariko's rope snapped, separating her from the rest of the group, falling on her own.

Re: The New Circle Sombra 1 Ral Sombra checked his equipment again. Everything looked in the green. Time to go. Ral stepped on the launch pad, placing his hands in the grips at the end of metal poles affixed to the front of the gold-green hexagon. The D-Vest powered up as the door in front of him opened on a maelstrom of orbs and tiny stardust. "Target acquisition is green." Dr. Yanez's voice was dry and clear over the announcement system. "Launch power-up is green. Firing sequence starts on my mark. "Mark!" The hexagon slid forward into the stellar whirlwind, piercing the dimensional veil. Sombra felt the buffeting through his protective gear, closed his eyes. The trip took day long seconds of vertigo and stomach torturing before everything settled to calm horizons under a blue sky. Sombra took a moment to catch his breath before starting the job he had been sent to do. When he felt he was ready, he activated his scanner and shrank down to the size of a gly. He lifted into the air, following the signal source. Sombra hoped this would be an easy retrieval. He had captured ten fugitives on this one world, and all of them had been deadly and unwilling to face the Queen's justice. Since summary execution was the sentence, he could understand why they would try to kill him on sight. He might do the same thing if he were in their positions. Sombra reached where the tracking beacon should be. Supposedly the units were impossible to remove once they had been inserted in the convicted. The hunter felt the system had not run into a criminal desperate enough to deal with it. Most tried to block the beacon with native materials. Sombra landed on the roof of a small skyscraper, running the scanner in a circle to confirm the signal. The beacon gave a motionless hello, but he didn't see any body that should be there. An empty roof presented no cover. Sombra followed the signal to a trash can. He grew to his normal size and poured the receptacle out. Among the trash gleamed a bloody napkin. One hand flipped the napkin open. A small chip blinked at him. Then the world exploded. Sombra hit the roof's edge and fell over. The D-Vest uttered a protest as it absorbed the damage from the trap. He activated his flight pods, ordering the devices to hold him in a hover so he could assess the situation. This was a first in his experience. Sombra floated above the fire. A careful inspection revealed that he was alone. It also told him that he would have to spend more time there than he planned. That could be bad. Sombra shrank down and headed back to the insertion point. The loss of signal would be cited as proof of termination. He had to report in before something happened to stop him. If a fugitive could remove a tracking module and use it for a trap, killing a retriever should be a snap. Sombra didn't want to give him the chance. Sombra spotted his entry point. Once he pressed the recall, the door would open and he could pass back through. Ribbons of light erupted from the roof as he descended. Naturally the second part of the trap closing to prevent communication with home. He had to get through. A squad of hunters had to be assigned to this. Phantas, his fugitive, stood amidst the men firing energy weapons. The white haired radical raised one hand, holding a box. One pale finger pressed the lone button on the box. The door home closed for Sombra as he grew to giant size, reaching for his nemesis. Phantas smiled, then flickered out of existence as the large agent crashed into his mob, sending them flying into the air.

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower This is the link to the list. http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/solouber/?yguid=38103590 youre welcome to lurk or play. CES

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower The working idea is Spiderman in Smallville. Hopefully it will be okay in action. CES

Re: (SoloUber) Webs of the Widower

Webs of the Widower game created and played by Kevin Schultz, GMed by C. E. Syphrett.

Re: xialin showdown I haven't run into any problems. Liz is a good player. She threw me when she went to the buddhist monks and shrine maidens, but that allowed me to define what shrine maidens can do (based on Inuyasha). The main thing is the setting. Once you have that down, you can put in what you want. Are you using an original Pokemon setting, or what's in the material? CES