"Sooo, yeah. That's why I'd like you to head over to the Bronx and give Janna a quick hand before they all die. Oooor we all die. I dunno, the stick guy was really vague." You concluded after a brief explanation.
Kitsune stowed the little rectangle of plastic and glass the humans used to communicate. It was intriguing, honestly.
…
くそ.
Being in this city was terror enough. The thought of drawing such attention to herself was horrifying. An involuntary shudder went down her form, head to tail, considering just how risky exposing herself to this 'Xanatos' could be. How it might attract him.
There were no memories of those times, only impressions. But this much she knew: what had crushed her, crushed them all, had been pride.
Kitsune gazed up at the lights of Manhattan. What need had she to involve herself, truly? This was a mortal matter, sure enough. On the other hand, Janna. But the girl… was precocious. She could handle herself, surely.
Surely?
Would it be so different, to let another one die?
It was true. What was one more grave behind her? She'd mourned before, for those closer besides. What was the girl, really? A mortal with dreams beyond her reach? A fool she barely knew, buried by her own silliness?
...ちくしょう.
As Kitsune raced through the shadows of the great port, she sought to reassure herself. There was no reason he would be watching. There was little risk of his involvement.
Chances were, she would not run into Puck at all.
---
"Janna, who are you-?"
"Just gimme a sec Marco. You've been a mercenary or whatever, handle it. C'mon pick up, pick up... Heeeeeey."
"We get any guidance on which one ta kill first?" The massive grey leader asked.
"Not a one, Wolfy." The female of the group replied. "We get to use our discretion."
"My favorite." The third man and second cyborg grinned. The final member of the group, the one with the pair of tasmanian tigers by his side, merely cracked his knuckles.
'Wolf' flexed his claws. "Pack- Attack!"
"Are they serious?" Tom asked.
Marco nodded regretfully. "They're… kinda infamous in my circles."
"We're gonna die to a bunch of furries." Lizzy said with a sigh. "Great."
Pack- Attack!
60+33+52=145
Marco+Tom contest: 78+44+29+7+5=163
Failure!
As two of the Pack leveled machine guns at the group, Tom and Marco dove for cover. Twin lines of bullet holes dug into the concrete where they had been standing.
"Hey, you guys wanna tell us who you are before you try and kill us?" Tom asked, poking his head out from around a pillar.
"Bossman's Wolf, new guy in the helmet's Taz." The cyborg said. "I'm Hyena. That's my brother Jackal!" she pointed with her thumb. "And you're dead meat!"
"Do we… have to keep up with the quips?" Tom asked.
"It's traditional." Marco replied. "All right, time for an impounding!"
Marco and Tom Martial check: 19+44+29+5=97
Pack Contest: 70+33+52=155
Heavy Failure!
Tom lifted Marco into the air, clearly straining under the weight.
"Uuugh." he groaned. "Dude, do you actually eat the grease lumps at Bueno Nacho?"
"Hey man! This is all muscle!"
Tom huffed. "All of it?"
"Let's look inside and find out!" Hyena cackled, throwing her gun aside to reveal razor sharp talons. Leaping from the still hovering craft, she latched onto Marco's hoodie, pulling all three of them to the ground in an exceptionally sharp pile.
"Hey Janna! Gonna finish up anytime soon?" Marco called as he tumbled through the air.
"Good news? Found Marco. Bad news? Apparently there are more Gargoyles than Xanatos said there were." Janna said, still ignoring the fight.
"We would really appreciate it if you hurried up." Tom agreed.
"I'll cut her off." Wolf growled menacingly.
The Pack Martial check:
19+52+30(bolstered horde)=104
Janna contest: 45+13+12+7+29+5+5=116
Failure!
"Oh god!" Janna yelled, leaping out of the way as Wolf barreled past her. "A lot more. I don't know what's going on but they're going for-"
A pair of gargoyles descended from the rooftops, trying to block her escape, but Marco leapt into their path.
"Look, please tell me you have someone else in New York right now?! I could really use- MORE?!? REALLY?!?"
They were followed by a further flock, evidently more gargoyles reinforcing the throng.
Horde Martial check:
83+33+30=146
Tom contest: 63+44+29+5+5=146
TIE!
Tom shook off Hyena and took to the air again, trying to hold off the dozens of swooping gargoyles. Several of them latched onto him, ripping further holes in his already very punk shirt.
"Some support would be appreciated!" Tom complained.
Dracon Mob: Some Support
70+21+20+15=126
Pack contest: 85+33+52=170
Failure!
The Glooms: Some support:
25+20+13+12+7=77
Pack Contest: 170
Critical Failure!
Wolf and the Tasmanian easily avoided the incoming fire from the Drakon outfit, while Jackal and Hyena opted to simply let the spell fire bounce off their half-metal bodies.
"Got a little bit of cold iron worked in here." Jackal said with a serrated grin. "Comes in handy." The bolts of pink and purple magic rebounded, hitting the Glooms head-on and leaving them dazed on the ground.
"Anybody else want to try?" Jackal asked.
Janna Combat roll: 92+13+12+7+44+5=173
Pack contest: 73+33+52=158
Success!
"Yeah, I'll give it a go." Janna said, raising Feldrake. Vast strands of striated muscle burst out of his horns, squirming through the air and wrapping themselves around the cyborg in a tight and horrifying knot.
"What the hell?!?!?" Jackal screamed, squirming within the thews.
"Janna, what is that?" Tom asked.
"Well it's human muscle."
"Why is your binding spell made of human muscle?!?!" Marco screamed.
"Because my spellbook doesn't have a curse for animal muscle, ok?!?!"
"That's disgusting." Grim said weakly, still winded from his own backblast.
"It's horrendous." Hildy agreed.
"It's… amazing!" They finished together. "Where did you get that staff?"
"We'll talk later." Janna replied.
Pack Combat Roll: 2+33+52-10(tied up)= 73
Lizzy Contest: 52+13+12+7+26+5=115
Failure!
Hyena and Wolf attempted to come at Lizzy from two sides at once, but her ant droids came to her rescue, locking mandibles around the Pack's wrists and stopping them in their tracks.
With the Tasmanian Tiger the only member of the Pack not occupied, Marco went in for an attack of his own.
"All right you cheap imitation, ready to go extinct twice?"
Marco Martial check: Back at you
4+13+12+7+29+5=70
Pack contest: 40+33+52-10= 115
Failure!
Marco charged forwards, only for one of the beasts to rip his chainsaw out of his hands.
"Noice work, Sheila!" the mercenary hollered from behind his mask.
"You named her Sheila???" Marco asked.
"Ya got a problem with that?"
At this point, the continuing explosions, gunfire, and spell blasts made New Yorkers do what they do best: form a crowd. This was… a problem.
Intrigue Check: Tone down the magic!
DC 70/100 (Plausible deniability/genuinely convincing)
78+22+20=120
Success!
"Cool it cool it!" Janna told Tom halfway through some sort of summoning chant. "People in this dimension aren't supposed to know magic is a thing."
"What? Really?" Tom asked, confused. "Well that never stopped Star."
"Echo Creek is weird." Janna replied. "...Also I think Star's parents were bribing most of the adults in town. Just… make it look like you just have superpowers or something. Stick to the fire. Leopold, go hide inside."
The great beast lumbered quickly inside, causing several of the mobsters to side-eye it. Hildy and Grim slowly followed after it, complaining.
"Come on, we haven't even gotten to do anything!"
Tom shrugged. "Eh, we can win this without magic, right?"
On the other side of the melee now breaking out across the building's front, Hyena kicked away one of the ant-piloted suits. "Aaargh, this is taking too long. We need another angle."
She glanced around, cracking her knuckles. "And I think I got one!" Ripping the heavy weapon out of a gargoyle's hands, she aimed for… the crowd!
Pack Martial Check: Obligatory war crime
54+33+52-10=129
Marco contest: 60+13+12+7+29+5+5-10 (hiding magic)=121
Bare Success!
Marco leapt into action, slamming into the cyborg just as she fired. The shot went wide, but Hyena did not seem to care; she instead took the opportunity to sink her metal talons into Marco's leg. The wound looked superficial, but it was enough to keep Marco pinned in her grip!
The Pack: Break free
DC 100
24+33+52=109
Bare success!
After constant straining, Jackal finally managed to tear apart the strands of muscle binding him. The flesh fell to the ground in tatters, shifting back into insubstantial smoke.
"Finally, that was disgusting! You're gonna pay for that, brat!"
"Let's try this one more time." Wolf said.
Pack Combat Roll: 100+10+33+52=195
Contest: 83+13+12+7+44+5-20=144
Success!
Wolf and the Tiger advanced towards Janna, and Tom by himself was not enough to help. As the pair of tasmanian tigers pushed her backwards, Wolf tackled her, claws digging into her back and pinning her to the ground.
Janna struggled, but the sheer strength of the mutated man was too much. As Wolf held her down, Hyena paced forwards slowly, grinning.
"Looks like the brat is giving orders." Wolf said. "Let's fix that. You want the honors?"
Hyena continued to grin.
Wolf tilted his head. "Hyena? Hey, Hyena!"
"What?!?"
Wolf twisted his head around.
Hyena was busy vivisecting an antborg.
Wolf turned back to the woman standing next to him.
She smiled.
Combat Check: Surprise!
98+13+12+7+20+10+30(Surprise!)=190
Pack contest: 93+33+52=178
Success!
The illusion melted away even as Kitsune's claws raked across Wolf's face. He howled, and the two fought tooth and claw, hands whirling and magic flowing. Kitsune scored another hit, sending Wolf momentarily staggering back.
"Kitsune!" Janna cheered.
"The cat?" Feldrake asked.
"Janna, you are a lot more social than I remember." Marco said.
"I've found my people." Janna replied.
"You've found quite a mess as well, little one." Kitsune said.
A WVRN helicopter began soaring over the battlefield, prompting Kitsune to shift back into her mortal guise. "There hardly seems to be a personality missing."
Horvath Stewardship check: Navigate to the bunker in time to be of any use whatsoever!
DC 120/140
13+20+25=58
Critical Failure!
Horvath will not be appearing in this quest.
"Yeah." Janna agreed. "I… wait."
Intrigue Check: is someone missing?
DC 75
60+22+20=102
Success!
"...where's Demona?" Janna asked slowly.
"Oh, shit." Marco said.
"If she's half as schemey as she'd need to be to match Xanatos, she's sneaking in right now."
"Thaaaat's not good, is it?" Tom asked.
A second later he ducked as the still very angry gargoyle horde flung a chunk of ripped concrete at his head.
Lizzy turned to Janna. "What do we do?"
[ ] After her!
Janna can't let Demona get in, whatever happens. Abandon the front, get in there and track her down, now.
[ ] Hold the line
Xanatos probably knows, right? If they leave now, the Pack will run roughshod over the mob, and leave a path to the core open for a massive horde of gargoyles.
There will be a six hour moratorium on voting.