Balmas

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

"Mm. Low priority. Apparently you're the one with brain problems," said Locker. He took a sip of the drink and then offered it to you again. "We're about to go fight Turbo Knight and Prometheus for the fate of the world. Do you want to come with, or are we going to have to leave you in a utility closet for the duration?"

@Thanqol

"I! What! You!" Victor sputters like a fuse about to reach a powderkeg. Then he's upright, bites the edge of the can, and drains it in one fell swoop. "Look here, you jumped-up wannabe, Prometheus is my creation, he's my problem, and if you think you're going to leave me here while you rush off and save the--holy fuck, you drink that?"

Coughing up a fit, he drops the can and sags against Locker. "Fuck me, it tastes like tonguing a battery's ass."

And now he's coughing for an entirely different reason. Like, you wouldn't think it to look at the guy--after all, he spends most of his days dressed in what amounts to sweatpants and a pajama top--but underneath all the fluff is what he's realizing are incredibly firm abs.

"Um. Er. Ahem. To answer your question, fuck you. Yes, I'm coming with, and if you think you're running off without me, you'd best be prepared for me to stage a daring escape, hack the navigation console, and send the Gears foundation screaming into AEGIS headquarters."

He pauses, and leans further into Locker. (Holy crap, you could bounce a casino's wortha quarters off them.) "Which, of course, would be an objectively terrible plan, and cause hundreds of thousands of dollars in insurance premiums alone. I'd really hate to do that to my new company. Which is why I'm coming with now."

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

Locker moves in slouches. He always looks exhausted but it's even worse with the black eye and bruises. He looks like he's never slept in his entire life. He doesn't respond at all to anything you're saying, not like he's not listening, but like he's waiting for you to get around to being honest with him.

Pssht! He opens a can of an energy drink - the kind so rich in caffeine that any functional government would have banned as a matter of principle. He folds up like a deckchair, coming down to your level and holding the can out for you to take a sip from if you want.

@Thanqol

His eyes are not on the can. He would love to have eyes on the can. Unfortunately, Locker has squatted right in front of his face, and he's pretty sure right now that his face could serve double purpose as a space heater.

Oh. Right. Human interaction requires occasionally doing more than ogling.

Damn.

He looks up--and keeps looking up, holy crap--and winces when he meets Locker's eyes. "Fuck, man. You look like you headbutted a belt sander. You alright?"

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

9891. Click. Eeeerp.

Dammit all, they really had to use a combination lock?

9890. Click. Eeeerp.

Falling off the chair sucked, and inch-worming over to the jar was just as bad, but at least he was making progress. Just... Another--

9889. Click. Eeeerp.

--9888 to go. He sighs, and is in the middle of tongueing the delicate dial down another number when the door swooshes open. Aaaaand it is the worst possible thing. This is not a dignified position for a CEO to be in. They have flunkies for this. Retract the tongue, slowly, deliberately.

"...Morning," he says. Cool. Play it cool. He's not lying on the floor, licking a lockbox. He's dignified. Draw him like one of your french playthings, Locker. "Can't say I. Expected you. That is. I knew, of course, that. That you were on the ship."

He stares at the jar, and wills his tongue to extend. Come on. Two inches. You can do this. 9887. Come on.

"...Look, I'm betting they've already filled you with promises, but I have a better one. Which I will tell you. Definitely. After I get my hands back."

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

Nobody sees her move. First she's standing by the door with her arms folded over her chest, and then immediately after that she's grabbed Sara by the collar at the back of her neck and dragged her out of her chair. There's no filler frames. Snap, snap. She frowns, possibly unsure who to hit. She settles for ramming both their heads together with a satisfyingly dully clunk.

Then she yanks Sara back again and stands as straight and tall as she can manage, cracking her neck to hide how deep her blush is.

"Not! In! Front! Of! The! Prisoner! You! Moron!"

@Phoe

"¡Ay! Pendeja, ¡putéate en la mierda!"

Funny. He's always been assured that being hit by a pretty girl is a good thing. Turns out, it just sucks.

[Errant's backfired Assess question turnaround!
-What is Victor most vulnerable to right now?

Errant!

So, right now Victor is riding high. Slightly less high, admittedly, than about thirty seconds ago, but he is full of plans, capitalism, and himself, in that order. If you wanted to get him back to normal, you'd need to deflate at least one of those things. Bringing in Bode would, I think, get through to him even in this state. I hope.

Or, I mean, he's a torso with a head and no limbs. Pummelling until he stops talking might not be the most rational way to deal with things, but it'd be fucking satisfying, wouldn't it? Aren't you tired of being nice? Don't you just wanna go apeshit on this asshole?

-Is it possible to gag a man with his own nanite limbs?]

I mean. Yes, technically? But if you look at the volume of mouth and the volume of four sets of limbs, it's really inadvisable. You're gonna burst his stomach before you even get started on the second leg. You might be able to shove just enough nanites into his mouth to jam it up, but then you're giving him tools. And then you have to keep his mouth shut somehow, and tape gags are never as effective as the serials make them look. Plus, the second you open that jar, at least some of the nanites are going to make a break for it and go cause problems somewhere else in the ship, force you to leave him alone.

All in all, a ballgag seems like it'd be simpler, and you and Sara could make a date of picking out one both of you like.

[- How could we best end this quickly?
- What here can I use to embarrass Victor in a fun way?]

@Tatterdemalion

@SARAHPHIM!

H'okay, so the biggest issue is Sabrem's gas. Did you grab her onto the ship after Errant disarmed her backpack? She'd know the best antidotes for the gas. Heck, even if she's not here, you have Bode and you have Locker. You're not exactly strapped for supergeniuses, is what I'm saying. You could probably even trick Victor into doing it himself, if you can figure out how to phrase spitting out the koolaid as being good for his quest to take over AEGIS. Phrase it as a challenge to his ego, and he'll bite.

As for the second part... are we talking immediate humiliation, or long-term, "show the grandkids uncle Brainstorm's epic freakout" kind of embarassment? Because the latter is a lot easier--you have a camera, and this is the stuff that home videos are made out of. You keep filming, and this is the sibling-blackmail material of the century. Streaming it doesn't seem like it'd be all that effective--he's in full-on CEO mode, and bad publicity is just a matter of the right spin doctors.

But if you want to be really nasty? You're a lot more in touch with how people think, so you know he's got it bad for Locker already, even if he doesn't. Bring him in here, and he's gonna be a lot more reluctant to act out, lot more blushy and stammery.

(And then you film it, because those grandchildren also want to hear the story about how Uncle Vic met Uncle Tor, and that's blackmail material almost as good as what you already have.)

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

"Victor?" she chimes, "Maybe you'd like to stop talking before one of us says or does something you'll regret~"

@Phoe

"Oh, sure, that sounds peachy," he snarks. "Look, I'm a little busy right now. I have an inside line to AEGIS, I'm monitoring their every business decision, I don't have time for... for whatever the hell you think this is. The sooner we move on from your lame-ass kidnapping attempt, the sooner I can get on with revolutionizing the face of heroism in this city."

“Speaking of the calendar,” she drawls, “we could get started on the next one right now. Want me to shut him up, Eunicorn?”

She waggles one foot in his face with the shit-eating grin of a sister who has her nerdy dweeb of an adoptive brother at her mercy, and zooms in the camera on his reaction.

@Tatterdemalion

"Just so long as you're aware that you're losing whatever you put in my mouth," he deadpans, and then a look of. Of wonder? Of amazement? Whatever the look is, it crosses over his face and then returns to camp there. "Eunicorn. Holy shit, Eunicorn? That's. What, a pet name? Sara didn't come up with that, I guarantee that. Holy shit, this is the best. Like, I'm not saying the message boards are going to light up with this, but can you imagine the potential sales? Errant, corporate champion, icon of the free world, and potential idol? Oh, the media coverage AEGIS would have."

Oh, they've made a mistake. They've put his nanites where he can see them. And that means that he can see what they're doing, and hopefully that means that somehow he can octopus the lid of the jar off from the inside. Lessee, what is he working with here?

[If that's enough for an assess, then that's a 6.]

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

Victor, you're still hooked up to the Spiral Mind and are drinking deep of the black nectar of capitalism. One aspect of this is that you've got a whole lot of data coming in regarding Victoria and her plans. But now these unemployed scrubs want to get your time of day? Tell 'em to get outta here, why don't you?

@Thanqol

"You guys," Victor says judiciously, "are fucking assholes."

This is, sadly, not the first time Sara's stolen his limbs. He can feel them, somewhere, battering against the lid of whatever tupperware jar they put his nanites in. But not tying him up? Come on. Give him some respect, maybe? Some common courtesy? At least pretend you think he's a threat worth more than just propping his torso up in a chair.

Fucking humiliating, is what this is.

"Seriously. You!" He should be pointing. They've taken his hands. Can't point at Errant. Commie bastards. "I thought you, of all people, would be hunky-dory for my new change of heart. Finally! Finally, we two can be truly on the same side, have fun adventures! Errant, corporate champion, and Brainstorm, CEO! Once I take over AEGIS, you'd have free reign to pursue whatever hobbies you fancy---maybe we could make you the director of the bureaucracy, wouldn't that be fun? Wouldn't even send you out on any of the more distasteful missions, and that's more than could be said of miss 'punch you through a wall for laughing at her' Victoria. You're seriously telling me that you'd rather literally rebel against the very people who raised you, taught you, made you who you are, than see me in charge of it? That's your line? You'll gladly toe the line when AEGIS is bombarding-by-proxy the entire neighborhood, but the thought of me running things my way sends you running for the hills?

"Love the red, by the way. 'Criminal' is quite a fetching look."

He snaps back to the other bitch in the room. "Speaking of the other bitch in the room, chinga mi madre, Sara, was me having two minutes in the spotlight already too much for you? I swear, you'd think that after having franchised you'd be more willing to friggin' share. But noooo! Can't have Victor having fun! I mean, you've already stolen everything else in my life, so why wait when I'm finally on the cusp of turning over a new leaf? Oh wait, that'd mean that I might actually make something of myself, instead of being content to be one of the losers who waste their lives watching the poorly-edited drivel you produce! Fucking A, it's just like the time you stole my photo album to make the Wincest calendar! Yeah, I know about that, you think I didn't notice it went missing right about the time you got that new hardlight generator installed?

"...Actually, that was a pretty slick move. Like, still a bastard, but the kind of bastardry that I can admire and get behind. Maybe once I'm CEO, we could do another one of those calendars. I mean, horny is as horny does, and horny spends money. They're already buying my bootleg horndog calendars, and that means that they're not buying licensed Brainstorm softcore. Note to self: purchase a Cali studio, they have relaxed restrictions on that kind of thing.

"Anyway. You two have had your fun. So now, what's going to happen is you're going to give me back my limbs and a sizable chunk of bribery, and I'll forget this happened. Then, once I take over AEGIS, Errant will get her job back, and @SARAHPHIM won't have pissed away every sponsership deal she ever made. We'll be... well, you'll be employees. But favored ones, and that's more than can be said of most of the people I'll hire."

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

You dodge the slag. You dodge the car. You dodge the TAG wreckage. You dodge the gas canister. You don't dodge the gas.

Your vision swims as the orange gas surrounds you on all sides. The Spiral Commander lands alongside you and places her hand on your forehead and into your empty head new orders flow like water. You are but a vessel, a puppet, and you have only one objective: to capture Angel-IKA.

@Thanqol

And honestly, why should he even bother trying to save her? I mean, yeah, she's saved Sara a few times, but that just shows how much the @SARAPHIM name has been slipping now that you have all those clones running about. Heck, if AEGIS needs her that badly, maybe they've finally pulled their heads out of their asses and figured out that an elite can do the job of a superhero so much better than some rando gutter troll.

And boy howdy, does he know how to do it? See, these troops are something else--all the powers in the world, and what does AEGIS do? Just has one person controlling them, like ants in a hive. Don't they know tactics? Don't they know strategy? Don't they know that redundancies are everything in this world? Sheer numbers are nice, but the key is to properly use them! And now, instead of one person leading them, they've got two, and one of them's a literal damn Capital-S-G supergenius.

I mean, look at this. They've got someone whose powerset is literally controlling metal, and they've got him--what is that, boxing gloves? Come on, people, this isn't looney tunes. Box is right there! Rip the floor out, drop Angelica into the arms of a waiting jetpack trooper, and zoom out. Play the objective, people! You want Angelica, right? Throw just enough people at the worthless teenagers to bog them down, and then smash-and-grab! What are they gonna do, huh, call foul, ask for a redo? That's capitalism, baby.

[Tactical Genius: ...That's a 6. Marking XP.]

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

[Yeah, that's a 13 on Take a Powerful Blow. I'll take Lose Control of Yourself for 500 points, please.]

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

Brainstorm!

You're hanging back, observing the flow of the battle - and one figure stands out clearly. Levitating down from the sky, cross-legged, it's the creepy hive queen Spiral Goon figure you saw back at the convention. She looks straight at you from her elevated position and you get the distinct feeling that she's assessing the situation, taking in the chaos, figuring out the tactical manoeuvres required to bring things back under control. If you don't do something to stop her you're going to go from fighting disorganized superzombies to fully capable and professional supervillains. What do you do?

@Thanqol

Oh, Brainstorm has been there. Above the fray, getting the big picture, assessing. And if there's one thing that he's learned, it's that there's nothing quite so frustrating as getting distracted. Like, say, if someone where to thwip a little cable of nanites around that spiral trooper with a pulse rifle juuuust enough to nudge his aim high? Or maybe he snaps a missile out of the air and redirects it?

It's just the kind of thing that he'd find absolutely maddening, especially if he were to follow it up with snapping a cable onto her jetpack, and filling her helmet with buzzing, stinging nanites. See how they like it.

[Directly Engage with a 7. I'm stealing her concentration.]

Masks: Resurrection Roundabout

Like you say. It's too much. There are supervillains and superheroes on every side and they all seem to agree that you're a free target. You're getting hit from the right, hit from the left, barely able to keep your head together. You see Locker in the distance, throwing something that explodes and sends a flying guy into a wall, but then he's going bare fist against power armoured supervillain and you can tell he's losing, especially when Angel-IKA tries to break a chair over the spiral guy's back but instead smashes Locker clear in the face. Even over the melee you can hear the 'sorry! Sorry!' and 'fucking REALLY?'

And it seems like it was all for nothing. Alone, isolated, you against the world.

And you're seeing rainbows.

@Thanqol

Okay. So, this is it. Worst day of his life. Can't top this, can't be beat, can't get worse than...

Errant! @Sarahphim! You rappel down from the ceiling together, sliding down a rope from one of Dominus' assault helicopters, surrounded by suppressive missile fire causing explosions in every direction. You land immediately above Brainstorm.

...Okay, universe. I see what you're doing, and I don't like it.

Seriously? He's already beaten, they've got AEGIS Spiral troopers kicking his ass up and down the wall, and they send in the even bigger guns?

Might as well just lie down and let it--

She stands quickly, swinging Sara off her shoulders and taking the time to give Victor the slightest of nods before she's off again.

@Phoe

...Oh. Huh. You know what, that's a win and he's gonna take it if it kills him.

No time for sleepies. Hero time. Shit. He coughs, shoves off the floor, and hurls himself back into the fray.

"They're after Angelica!" he bellows to Euna. "Keep them away from the broadcast booth!"

[Above the Fray: Adding a Team to the pool]