Ileyna just about leaped out of her skin at the thunderclap, and then cringed when she realized that she'd quite forgotten about the distortion that had been forming above the building. How could she be so stupid as to forget about that?

She sighed, and looked up at the boutique's roof. "Well, at least it didn't destroy the building."

She glanced back at the man, and gestured towards the building. "I, uh, I gotta go check that out. I was examining it when you arrived. You can come with if you're interested."

She made her way towards the fire escape ladder. "Like I said, sometimes Gateways take you where you need to go," she called back to the man. "Me? I don't think it's coincidence you got spat out right next to some charged reality-warping phenomenon."

As Ileyna climbed up the escape ladder, the energy distortion mellowed out, dissipating. And then, the first hints of chatter above her:

"Spread out. Find the path into the ruins. Work fast and turn over this whole town if you have to. Do not fail me."

The ladder creaked slightly under her weight.

(OOC: Pick one of Ileyna's abilities to roll for - in this case, avoiding detection. The more specific and geared towards the activity the ability is, the better. Roll a d20 - if it's equal to or less than the ability's rank, it succeeds.)

(OOC: Ability: Telekinesis <16>. d20 result: 4)

Ileyna cringed as she heard the voices--it had been a warp or a Gateway that had been building, and the visitors didn't sound friendly. So she prayed that they didn't hear the creak of the ladder over the noise of their arrival and mobilization.

She had to do something about that, though. The teenager opened up her mind, opening herself up to her abilities, and reached out with her mind. Unseen by the stranger that had already arrived, a symbol of faint light flickered to life on her forehead. Telekinetically she grabbed a hold of the ladder, holding it firmly in place despite her weight. She gave it a little shake, but the ladder didn't move.

Perfect. Now let's make sure they don't see me. Steeling herself for what she might find, Ileyna started back up the fire escape to see who had arrived.

OOC: Undead Gladiator Unit 17 [roll: 4], Enhanced Scion Potential 17 [roll: 15]

Nothing reached out to grab at her. She heard footsteps of many men wearing clanking metal walk towards the other side of the roof. From below, the man had walked back towards Ileyna and was looking up as well, shielding his eyes. "What's going on now?" he asked.

Ileyna ducked back down, hunching herself so he'd hear her better. "We got trouble. Interlopers, in metal armor from the sounds of it," she called down with a whisper. "I hope you know how to handle yourself in a fight. If you don't, you better clear out of here."

"Me?" he asked. "You're a twig. Let me guess - magic powers or some big ape to do your work for you?" He backed away, glancing up towards the top of the building, then looking out towards the street. "Looks like these men are taking the high road. They're jumping around on building tops." With a sigh, he pulled back into the alleyway. "I don't have time for this."

He bent down, and suddenly bounded up with an incredible leap, landing feet-first on the guard rail of the escape stairway with a noisy clatter. Near his shoulder, a larger figure had materialized, mimicking the man's actions - broad-chested and armored in white, a black orb embedded in its torso and a scarf of multicolored diamond shapes, like stained glass, trailing from its back. It pushed down hard on the railing as the man leapt up again, propelling himself over the side of the building's apex.

The world seemed to slow down for Ileyna as she took in the sight of the stranger's feat. She drank in every detail in wonderment--not for the man himself, for over the years she had seen many an accomplishment like it, and those even greater.

But for the man to share the same kind of secret as her? That was a treat. Blue eyes trailed after the entity that hounded the man like his shadow. She made a nervous laugh. "What're the odds?"

Suddenly Ileyna shook herself. That guy was headed for a fight! Gotta get up there after him! she thought, and scambled up the fire-escape after him. No point in stealth now!

Ileyna reached the top of the stairwell, climbing up the roof's emergency ladder for the rest of the way. As she crawled over the edge of the top, she saw the man in the purple coat stride confidently towards what had appeared in the thunderclap, another man in army camouflage trousers and combat boots.

"Who're you?" combat-boots man asked.

The man in purple smiled. "I'm just passing through, and I couldn't help but notice that you and your pack of gladiators are a bit of out of place. What're you looking for?"

"None of your business, old man."

Glass shattered down below, and the first scream filled the air as a gladiator's spear thrust through the window of an antique shop. Other armored warriors began tearing into stores, tossing aside people as they frantically searched for something unknown.

"Sounds like it's my business now," the man in purple said. "I'm having a really bad day. So take your little friends and skip town, because I'm in a mood to vent my frustration, if you know what I mean."

"You won't stop me." Combat-boots man shot a glance at Ileyna. "No matter how many of you there are. The shallow ruins are mine."

"Well that's only assuming you're even capable of taking them," Ileyna said as she walked up beside the man in the purple coat, looking all the world to be serene and confident, as if the threatening man before her was nothing to take seriously.

She shifted her weight to one foot and shrugged with her hands in the air. "Really, you've got a lot to learn if you think you can just waltz in and take what you want," she said with a laugh. "You really should just take your ragtag misfit army and go back home before you embarrass yourself."

The man in combat boots reached into the collar of his wifebeater and pulled out what was hanging from his neck - a small copper disk. "Strange. I was about to say the same thing to you."

He pressed his fingers against the inscriptions on the disk, and shimmering, warm light coated his form. A golden breastplate faded into existence over his torso, and as gauntlets and armored boots appeared as well, he turned to face them fully, a centurion's helm wavering into place, obscuring his cropped military haircut.

"Of course he's got a theme," the man in purple muttered. "They've always got a theme." He looked to Ileyna. "You'd better clear out. This is going to get ugly."

Ileyna only smiled cutely at the stranger. "Don't worry about me. I'm tougher than I look."

She looked back at the centurion before them, and her expression hardened. She flexed the fingers of her right hand into a sign at her side. "Judging by what I saw back there, between the two of us... Greek Guile here doesn't stand a chance."

(Centurion - Armor of Achilles 2M [roll: 8, Failure]
Man in Purple - ? 2M [roll: 13, Failure]
-Masteries cancel each other out, low roll gets marginal victory)

The centurion clapped his knuckles together with a metallic smack, and bolted towards the man in the purple trenchcoat, shoulder brought to bare. Again, the specter materialized, crossing its arms in defense before its keeper, but it came too late - it mostly deflected the blow, pushing back the man in purple a little with the shaky impact.

(OOC: Roll an appropriate ability like before for your action.)

(Ileyna - Telekinesis <16> [roll: 5])

Ileyna dove out of the way of the centurion's charge, her shoes slipping against the graveled rooftop as the stranger's specter defended against the blow. She swept her eyes around, and they settled on a portion of an air conditioning unit wrecked by the distortion's climax.

She grinned, and the symbol appeared on her forehead again as she opened herself to her powers once more. A second symbol flickered to life in the blue crystal hanging around her neck, and the teenager thrust her hand at the air conditioner. Her telekinesis took hold, lifting it up into the air, and she swung it with her arm back around, hurling it at their opponent.

Edited by RisingDragon on December 4, 2013 at 13:22:56

(Centurion - Armor of Achilles 2M [roll 15: Failure > Success through Mastery)

The air conditioner swooped at the centurion as he was recovering from his attack. Noticing it, he raised his arms to block, and the machine dented against his gauntlets, but the impact was enough to make him stagger.

(Man in Purple - Repulsion Bomb 18 [roll 1: Critical]
Centurion - Enhanced Scion Potential 17 [roll 9: Success]
Minor Victory Augment)

The man in purple took his chance - the specter appeared. Reaching across its chest, it loosened one of the small black marbles embedded within its other arm, flinging it towards the centurion. The orb clinked into the forehead of the soldier's helmet, and suddenly broke into segments, expanding outwards with an amplified thud. The soldier careened forward, pressed hard to the stone by an invisible force.

Gritting his teeth, the centurion reached for his belt with his other hand, withdrawing a pistol - mean, black - and aimed it at Ileyna, firing.

(Centurion - Trained Marksman 15 [roll: 4, Success)
(Ileyna's roll)

Edited by The Helldragon on December 19, 2013 at 14:48:52

(Ileyna - Flight <16> [roll 1: Critical])

As the man reached for his sidearm, Ileyna realized now was the time to quit goofing off. As the arm came up, the symbols on her forehead and in her pendant seemed to blaze--as did the bright blue aura of light that enveloped her form. The air shimmered around her, and a distortion of light formed a faint halo circling above her beret.

She rose up into the air rapidly, as geometric shapes materialized from her back: bright, elongated and translucent white triangles stacked against each other and holding hollow diamond shapes rose up from her shoulders, and a trio little spikes of light swept down underneath them towards elongated trianguler panels that left wispy contrails. She took to the air, soaring upwards as the centurion opened fire.

"That's not nice, Greek Guile," she admonished. She lifted up her right hand, flexing its fingers once more into a sign that she pointed at the man. A lance of light burst out from her palm and speared down at him.

(Ileyna - Omega Ray <15> [roll 8: Success])
(Centurion's roll)

Edited by RisingDragon on December 4, 2013 at 18:13:18

The blast smashed torso-first into the centurion, and with a cry, he was knocked back, finally able to lift his arm from the ground as a result of the sheer impact. He landed against the boutique's roof with a whud and a metal smack of armor, and didn't move after that.

"Hmmm," the man in purple said, as his specter faded. "Better results than I figured, at least."

Ileyna lowered herself back to the ceiling, though she didn't land. There was a hollow, almost musical ringing emanating from her that the stranger could hear. "Is he down for the count?" she asked--her voice still sounded normal despite her transformation. "I hope so. There's a lot more mooks running around we gotta take care of still."

"Would you turn that off? My ears are still ringing from the crash landing I took." The man in purple walked over, nudged the centurion with his shoe. "...looks like he's dazed for now."

"Oh, good. Throw him off the roof then," she said dismissively. "He said something about ruins, right? The... shallow ruins, he called them. There must be something hidden in this town. We better find it quick, before this army does."

She laughed a bit nervously. "Plus once the native army shows up, this place'll get ugly real soon."

"I imagine." The man looked back up to her. "What's your name again?"

Ileyna looked over at the man, and blinked. Her name?

Oh, shoot. I never introduced myself. She realized. Helena would have my hide if she finds out I keep doing that.

She smiled at the man, and curtsied in mid-air. "I'm Ileyna Telamon," she introduced. "And you are?"

"I'm...Max. Maxwell Irvine. But just Max is fine." He looked out over the small town scape. "Now let's hustle. If you're going to help me clean up the town, you'd better keep up." The specter appeared, and off he bounded from the side of the building.

"Keep up, he says," Ileyna muttered, shaking her head. "Like he didn't just see me freaking fly through the air."

She leaned forward and pushed the air behind her, causing her to dart forward and leave a contrail of blue light behind her as she chased after Max. "I'll see if there's any groups concentrating anywhere!" she called out to him.

If they were converging on a point, then she'd know they'd've found something.

From overhead, she saw a bunch of the armored gladiators trailing towards one of the bigger buildings in town - a helpful sign read "Silverton Public Library". The first police officers had arrived on the scene, and though they moved together, the gladiators seemed just too strong to be overpowered by normal people. Maxwell was immediately among the bustle, pulling warriors away from citizens and taking them out with a strong blow, either from him or his specter.

"Library? Of course!" Ileyna exclaimed as her eyes fell upon the sign. Where else would they find a history of the town? That'd lead them to clues about what they were after.

Well, assuming Max didn't take them all out. She better make sure he did! She swooped down closer to the street and halted in the air, making several people gape at her appearance. Paying them no mind, she opened fire at the gladiators that Max missed, sending more rays of blue light down at their heads.

Max raised his arm to block out the light generated by Ileyna's blasts, as they swooped down and sent gladiators sprawling.

"In the name a' GOD, what's goin' on?" one of the owners of the ransacked shops yelled nearby, an older woman lying fainted in his arms.

Max raised his hands. "Don't worry, we're here to help," he said. "What were they looking for?"

The shop owner gulped, a big one down his portly neck. "They showed me a picture...some kinda ancient inscriptions! But I didn't know what they were!"

Max bent down and picked up a piece of paper. Lines of black characters were scribbled along the bottom of the page, supporting the picture of a strange seal. "Is this it?" he asked, showing the shop owner.

"Yeah...what do those things want, anyway?"

"I don't know...but I'm going to find out." Max looked to Ileyna. "See if there's a library nearby, we've got to get there fast."

"There's one over there!" Ileyna called out from where she hovered, pointing off down the street. "We're gonna have to get through the battle royale to get there though!"

"What, just that?" Max asked. "Child's play!" He started to jog towards the library, fists clenched and coat wavering.

Ileyna blinked at the man's confidence. Useful at times, but in her experience... "Ah, well!" she said to herself, suddenly smiling as she trailed after him. "Maybe the universe won't smack him for it!"

She darted past him, leaving a trail of light in her wake. "I'll clear a path!" she said as she took hold of her telekinesis.

(Ileyna - Telekinesis <16> [roll: 6, success])

She glanced to the side, and took hold of an empty car--a nice-looking sedan, she hoped the owner wouldn't mind... it was an emergency, after all!--and it lifted up into the air. Bringing her fingers up to her lips, she whistled loudly at the gladiators. "Hey beasties! Heads up!" she shouted.

And then she threw the car down the street at the nearest cluster.

(Undead Gladiator Unit 17 [roll: 9 - Success]
Low roll wins)

The gladiators turned around, snarling with odd teeth behind the gaps in their helmets. They barely had enough time to widen their eyes before the car crashed into them, breaking some into bloodless halves.

"Don't go crazy on me!" Max shouted, running up. "Just be glad no one was in that car..."