NEW VINDICATORS #10: Checkmate (IC)

[flynnarrel]

Fluxx
hp 10

"Sir Lex, do you yield?" Fluxx calls out.

[Michuru81]

"Yield? Yield to those who by their own confession would flagrantly violate the law of this world!?! Never! I'll not waver, sir! I'll not give you the satisfaction of seeing my soul blackened by yielding to your transgressions!"

[Arkrite]

Alex "Current" Murphy
.
HP: 7 CND: Normal

Lex snorts, "I'm pretty sure there's nothing her I need to worry..."

He pauses then emites a low "Ew."

"I'd like to retract my offer to scout," Lex notes dryly.

Then over the din of the combat, he called, "Who's laws? Under what Authority?"

[flynnarrel]

Fluxx

"At least Jason imagines Lex's.... determination correctly." Fluxx says grimly.

[Arthur Eld]

Jason Lamperouge/Prodigy

Sometimes Jason assumed that with how fast Lex's body could move, his thought processes had to be just as fast. Granted, most functions were probably involuntary on his part by necessity, but there had to be some accelerated thinking going on. But, depending on his level of memory, he'd often have thoughts and then completely forget about them in the time it took a normal person to have one idea.

That had to be why he didn't seem to recall things shortly after learning them-or seemed not to learn them at all.

"He works for Eddy, Lex. He already said that. Eddy's in charge here. Its also probably not wise to reason with him, Martin."

Jason's gun appeared in his hand, and he took a moment to sight down the barrel. The calculations to figure out where Lex's doppleganger would be and avoid hitting Jack were almost difficult-so much of his thought powers were, apparently, being used to power his weapon and armor. At least it was easy for him to think of it that way.

"He's not even a person, really. Just a thought. A defense mechanism of Eddy's no doubt. You probably can't reason with him any more than you could a white blood cell." Jason 's cape fluttered a little as he fired-there was no trigger on the gun, he just put a little will into it, and it shot.

What came out was kind of a bullet-except it had a face and arms-and its was maybe five feet tall. It hurtled into the knight and blew up.

"Bullet Bill. Awesome."

Since Lex is Stunned, this counts as a Surpise Attack, so Sneak Attack comes into play. Technically he should be prone as well (Stunned characters take Knockback and even if they aren't moved, they fall prone), which means Jason has a -4 penalty to shoot him.
1d20+7=27 Nice! So that's DC 29 toughness. Lethal damage. 9 Hero Points left.

[Michuru81]

Toughness save (1d20+8=28) Shazam.

Ursa's up.

[McGuffin]

Ursa
[Otso Karell]
HP: 11 -> 10

Otso rushed the fake Lex with a look of grim determination. He wasn't completely comfortable attacking a friend, even if it wasn't really them, but he could put him down with a sleeper-hold. He muttered through gritted teeth as he adjusted his hold. "Just go down easy and we won't have to hurt you."

Attack, Grapple (1d20+6=22, 1d20+17=24), HP to re-roll Grapple(1d20+17=24)+10=34, Pin and Chokehold, don't have my books on me.

[Michuru81]

JASON'S HEAD (Catalyst, Current, Fluxx, Greystone, Prodigy, Ursa; NPCs: Fey Kirstie, Sir Lex [3 Bruises, Staggered, Stunned {Greystone}]), Sir Lex's Steed [KOed])
The knight shook off the blast from Prodigy's blaster pistol; he broke free from Ursa's grip... It seemed as though the man's resiliency knew no bounds...

Grapple (1d20+9=29)

Fun fact: Sir Lex and Basilisk apparently go to the same gym...

Sir Lex, however, is still stunned from Jack's attack, thus ending the round unless Fluxx, who held his action, is going to do something. Otherwise, we'll start at the top of the order...

Initiative

Current (28)
Catalyst (22)
Fluxx (21)
Greystone (16)
The Horse (15; KOed)
Prodigy (14)
Ursa (11)
Sir Lex (7)

[Arthur Eld]

Uh, Mich, Sir Lex failed his toughness save against Jason's attack by 1. Not a big deal, but he is Bruised/Injured, or however a thought form in a dreamscape takes lethal damage.

[flynnarrel]

Fluxx

Fluxx sighs. The construct's words were most annoying, as was it's vehemence.

He stretches out, his body lance-like for the knight's stout form. Should he hit, he snaps toward the man like a lamprey or shark, slithering down and over his body, pinning his hands to the side.

snare (1d20+6=25)
Snare, Engulf, Feat: Tether, Chokehold pr 10
{Martin can fully slither over someone, }
DC 20 Reflex to avoid, if fail by any, bound and helpless but automatically does str dmg to Martin until escapes or suffocates or hit by friends to unconciousness with coup de grace.

[Arkrite]

Alex "Current" Murphy
.
HP: 7 CND: Normal

Lex facepams, with a resounding metal clang. For a guy who was supposed to be a genius the guy was pretty focused on only one thing. Not gathering information, just trying to kill the Alexternate.

"Eddy's defense mechanisim. Isn't Eddy you? So, it's your defense mechanisim that you're trying to shoot to death?" Lex sighs, "You locked away one of them and ended up like this. I mean, come on, even Jack doesn't want to see what happens if this one dies."

"You don't seriously thinks he's holding back because he's afraid of hurting my feelings, do you?"

ooc: just chatting this round. Guess that would make it GPrime's turn.

[Arthur Eld]

Jason Lamperouge/Prodigy

Jason was calm, measured in his response. No doubt being separate from Eddy had left him mellow.

"Eddy is not a defense mechanism, he's one of the three components of a balanced mind. To return to my previous biological metaphor, Eddy is not a white blood cell, like this one. He's like an organ-although neuroscience has proven he doesn't actually reside physically in a specific portion of my brain. Still, 'caging' Danny was literally like shutting off a part of my brain. In response, my mind did exactly what bodies do when there's a problem-they overcompensate. That's why Metaloaf's character from Fight Club had 'bitch tits'-his body was countering an influx of one hormone with an overabundance of another. This is not an action on the same scale."

His gun was gone from his hand, vanished into the ether. "Either way, its my mind, my out of control Es," His German came out a little thick, thicker than normal. Curious.

"And, as you pointed out, my defensive thought projection stopping us from freeing my Ich. So its my decision. Perhaps 'killing' this thing will render me incapable of perceiving you on a physical level, forcing my mind to constantly block you out."

He smiled and dripped with sarcasm. "Wouldn't that be just awful?"

[Arkrite]

Alex "Current" Murphy
.
HP: 7 CND: Normal

"Or, permanent irreparable damage to your mind. Which would be awful. For you. And probably for us, too, since were in here trying to help. And we all saw what happened to Emily," Lex shrugs, "True or false, big brain, if I'm wrong you're losing nothing. But if I'm right you're risking anything from temporary memory loss to serious long term damage."

"Smart money says caution. Between your brain and Martin's abilities you should be able to temporarily incapacitate one guy."

He shrugs again, looking to the sky, "Or... you try to prove me wrong about something we both know I won't care about tomorrow, and shoot your imaginary friend just to find out if he's 400 gallons of nitroglycern."

[Michuru81]

JASON'S HEAD (Catalyst, Current, Fluxx, Greystone, Prodigy, Ursa; NPCs: Fey Kirstie, Sir Lex [4 Bruises, 1 Injury, Staggered, Unconscious]), Sir Lex's Steed [KOed])
"Just go down easy and we won't have to hurt you."

If the Faerie-like version of Kirstie didn't know any better, it was almost as if the Finn had some sort of psionic ability that allowed him to bend wills to his whim: no sooner had Ursa grabbed the knight, and administered a sleeper hold, had Sir Lex joined his steed in an unconscious stupor.

Though on the surface Prodigy appeared calm, no one doubted that this invasion was taxing. "Eddy is not a defense mechanism," he said, responding to the complaint his teammate had filed before their foe had been felled. "He's one of the three components of a balanced mind. To return to my previous biological metaphor, Eddy is not a white blood cell, like this one. He's like an organ-although neuroscience has proven he doesn't actually reside physically in a specific portion of my brain. Still, 'caging' Danny was literally like shutting off a part of my brain. In response, my mind did exactly what bodies do when there's a problem: they overcompensate. That's why Metaloaf's character from Fight Club had 'bitch tits': his body was countering an influx of one hormone with an overabundance of another. This is not an action on the same scale.

"Either way, its my mind, my out of control Es. And, as you pointed out, my defensive thought projection stopping us from freeing my Ich. So its my decision. Perhaps 'killing' this thing will render me incapable of perceiving you on a physical level, forcing my mind to constantly block you out.

"Wouldn't that be just awful?" he said in a voice oozing with snarkiness.

"Or, permanent irreparable damage to your mind," Current offered, "which would be awful. For you. And probably for us, too, since we're in here trying to help. And we all saw what happened to Emily/ True or false, big brain, if I'm wrong you're losing nothing. But if I'm right, you're risking anything from temporary memory loss to serious long term damage.

"Smart money says caution. Between your brain and Martin's abilities you should be able to temporarily incapacitate one guy." Current shrugged, and gazed up at the sky. "Or... you try to prove me wrong about something we both know I won't care about tomorrow."

"Or," offered the pixie in their midst, "we can continue on. You all said you were looking for Danny? I think he's this way."

She flew to her left, then doubled back. "No, more like this way..." She stopped then, and fluttered in the air. "This way!" she said, taking another left. "Definitely this way!"

Martin's words hung in the air: "At least Jason imagines Lex's.... determination correctly." It was obvious now to everyone that Pixie Kirstie and Sir Lex were how Jason--or rather some part of Jason--saw his classmates: Kirstie was indecisive and incapable of making up her mind; Lex was stubborn and refused to be swayed from what he perceived as being right.

Soon, the group made their way off of the clockwork planes and into a small city, populated by charicatures of the young hero's classmates and teachers. It was here that they met Geppetto, the woodcarver, and Martinio, the marionette he had made who yearned to one day be a real boy. They directed the young heroes towards a massive labyrinth that rested between them and the mountain where Danny surely was held captive. "He's probably in the dungeon of Princess Emily's castle," Geppetto explained. "She is an icy woman who seeks to manipulate her subjects."

With Prodigy's mind and Current's speed at the helm, the labyrinth was easily conquered. A narrow path led up to the mountain keep, where the heroes were greeted by two towering doors, equipped with enormous stone knockers.

Cautiously, the heroes made their way up to the door, only to hear a pained cry rise up from their feet. Jumping back, they saw a doormat--a doormat with an ever shifting pattern that bore Jack's face...

"Sorry for crying out like that," Jack the Doormat said. "Feel free to walk over me. Abuse me, insult me, steal my love interest--I'm used to it."

Together, the New Vindicators made their way into the fortress, knowing that the sooner they found the dungeon and freed Danny, the sooner they could vacate Jason's mindscape...

Uh, Mich, Sir Lex failed his toughness save against Jason's attack by 1. Not a big deal, but he is Bruised/Injured, or however a thought form in a dreamscape takes lethal damage.

My apologies; I know exactly what happened: I was looking at the 27 in the attack roll, saw the natural 20, and got excited. Sir Lex has an extra owie.

At the same time, the second natural 20 must have evoked my idiot side: I would have lost the grapple with Ursa. Again, I apologize...

Hero points to both Jason and Otso, and Martin for retconning his action: I presume that if Martin saw Otso successfully grab the knight, he would not go for the engulf. Further, since we have the chokehold (and this feels incredibly drawn out [again: my fault], I will further presume that Otso's intent is to send Sir Lex off to la-la land. With that in mind, I trust no one will mind if I fiat to say Sir Lex falls asleep?

And then try to move things along?

[flynnarrel]

Fluxx

Martin was feeling his own bout of icy coldness toward Jason.... Martinio? And the nose, already large, just kept growing whenever he said something condescending and superior, which was quite often! And just who was Gepetto supposed to be? Who did Jason think 'pulled his strings' or was 'puppet master' to the ex-Prefect?

It was no use confronting the man about it. Jason could no more control how his subconscious's perceptions of Martin manifest any more than he could reshape doormat-Jack.

Apple-Jello-Martin just held his tongue and followed into the fortress construct of Jason's mind.