Elbow Grease (Ash City Alts)

The member 'Himura' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 12, 13, 5

As the first attack damaged the power lines, they fell to the ground in a spectacular lightshow, sparking against a nearby building.



As Zanth's dolls scrambled up the sides of the buildings after the army of cogs thereupon, the blue one at the center stared icily toward Himura as an attack was sent its way, "Divert emergency defensive power to Cog Commander."

No sooner had the order been issued than the cogs began glowing a bright blue, the Cog Commander itself glowing brightest of all.

The glow arced to a blinding intensity before finally subsiding and revealing the Cog Commander to be unharmed.

"Surrender is inevitable," the mechanical demon pointed toward Himura.

~~~~~~~
Luck Roll; will the power lines be close enough to damage the cogs? (30% chance. Roll 1d100)
~ Result 54 (failed)

Cogs activate Adaptive Resistance: Collective Will (+1 to Resistance for each cog present. Total 20 cogs. +20 to Resistance)

Cog Commander resists Fire Attack
~ 16 + Resistance 7 + Collective Will 20 = 43 total (27 + roll) SUCCESS!
~ ~ Immune to Death Attack
~~~~~~~

The member 'Grand High Council' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 16

The member 'Grand High Council' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd100' : 54

Zanth, seeing the power lines Himura brought down, an idea forms, Zanth says to Himura, "Can you keep him off of me for a few seconds? If this works, It might just give us enough time to run for it." Zanth then walks over to the fallen power lines, and thinks to himself, ' If I miscalculate this, there may not be anything left to repair.'


~ Zanth activates Adptative Resistance : Energy Immunity (Lightning)

Watching him go over to the power lines, 'Well i think he defiantly has a few screws loose... and that's probably figuratively too. But against these things... its probably our best shot to try.'

Watching the blue one again, 'This time i will hit you...'

Fire Attack from Khopesh #1
13 Roll + 14 Magic + 4 Fire Attack + 4 Spell Sword + 4 Evil Rage + 4 Enhance Magic = 43 Total

The member 'Himura' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 13

Pulling a longbow from its back and knocking a deadly razor arrow, the Cog Commander aimed for Himura, "Rogue experiment HIMURA, your corpse will be confiscated and returned to the laboratory for resuscitation as a more obedient servant to The Machine."

Meanwhile, Zanth was face to face with the loose power line he needed for a bold strategy. It was as likely as not to turn him into so much burnt scrap, but at the moment, there seemed no better way to end this.

~~~~~~~
Cogs activate Adaptive Attack; Group Attack (+20 Atk)

Cog Commander resists Fire Attack (vs 43)
~ 14 + Resistance 7 + Collective Will 20 = 41 total (27 + roll) (-2 hp; /50% via Absorb Magic = -3 hp (13/16 hp left)

Cog Commander fires Bow And Arrow at Himura
~ 8 + Attack 10 + Bow And Arrow 8 + Sniper's Eye 1 + Spring Armor 1 + Group Attack 20 + Fighter 4 + Archer 4 = 56 total (48 + roll)

Zanth attempts to increase power with the power line!
~ Luck check! (roll 1d100. Must roll 50 or below)
~~~~~~~

The member 'Grand High Council' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 14, 8

As Zanth feeds the power lines into his arm, he begins to concentrate, and he can feel a massive flux of energy flow into his arm, With the energy in his arm, he holds it to the Blue Cog, and says, "Bang." A massive energy surge flows from his arm, easily spreading apart like one giant wave of pure electricity.


~ Zanth Rolls Luck Check
~ ~ Result: 7 (Success!)

~ ~ Zanth Attacks Cog Commander with Super-Charged Charged Attack (Lightning)
~ ~ ~ ~ Magic check result = 12
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 12 + 12 Magic + 4 Lightning Attack + 42 Luck = 70 total (must match/beat, or lose a turn)

The member 'Zanth' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd100' : 7

The member 'Zanth' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 12

As he sees the arrow flying towards him, he lets out a howl gearing up for the impact of the arrow knowing he wouldnt be able to deflect it at this close range.


As he gets hit in the chest with the arrow, narrowly missing his heart and vitals, "DAMN THAT HURT..." as he goes to pluck out the arrow from his chest, reeling in pain.

'Well that figures when you piss off alot of these things, shits bound to happen en mass.'

Wincing to Zanth as he dropped the cables after firing the shot, "Hope to hell that kills that freaking thing, when it drops, its head is mine." he says in a low growl watching the blue cog getting hit with the blast.

Himura activates Rage,
+8 HP

9 Roll + 12 Defense + 4 Fighter + 2 Dance of Rock + 2 Savage Path + 6 Sixth Sense = 35 Total (Failed, -21 HP) ( 7/28 HP)

The member 'Himura' has done the following action : Roll Dice:

'd20' : 9

Just then, the blast connected with the Cog Commander, the resulting shockwave momentarily blinding Himura and Zanth with its sheer intensity and causing a blackout over the majority of the downtown area that nearly had them convinced the blinding had been permanent until their eyes adjusted to the dim lights in the distance.

Anything at the attack's central focus was vaporized almost instantly, though ironically enough, a chunk of metal that might have once been a head did tumble to the ground and roll to Himura's feet.

~~~~~~
Cog Commander resists Lightning Attack
~ No FREAKING Chance (Crispy)
~~~~~~

~@~

Dzara stiffened in Mr. Pinstripe’s hold. She felt her heart stop briefly before racing forward as if running for its life. Her breathing sped up to the point that she started to see black edging the rim of her vision even as her stomach clenched tight like a fist...his fist. A distant part of her knew that she was panicking and needed to calm down before she fainted and there was even a small part of her that couldn’t stop rejoicing in the fact that he was here--he was alive. The rest of her knew, though--oh, yes, the rest of her knew what that tone meant… and trembled.

“Jacob?”

The word escaped her between her rapid breaths. She had to admit it: she was rather proud that she managed to say his name without stuttering like a common street urchin. Even if the single word had no strength behind it and was more of a whisper, at least she didn’t stutter. Not that she could hear the tiny voice that was proud over the panicking part that was screaming.

Belatedly, she realized that he had asked her a question. She scrabbled to reign in the haze enveloping her mind and recall what the question was so that she could answer. Her dark eyes blinked several times, but she couldn’t seem to move them away from the sight of that hand holding a few sheets of paper. Her mouth was suddenly dry and her tongue felt too big for it. She swallowed in a vain attempt to moisten her mouth. It sounded loud in the silence to her ears.

A faint breeze began to stir the air of the room, particularly around Dzara and Mr. Pinstripe.

"You remember my name...," his voice seemed a mingling of mild surprise and biting sarcasm, followed immediately by the chair whipping around to reveal a face more horrible than all her nightmares of this moment had conjured up.



"Well I haven't forgotten you either, my dearest Dzara," Jacob snarled through what was left of his face, one magically animated eye implant glowing menacingly like some terrifying specter in the darkness.



"You're not Jacob Kendell," Pinstripe replied cooly from under his hat, "That man was incinerated in a fire six months ago. Arson most likely."

"Arson most likely?," Jacob repeated with indignance at the audacity of it even being questionable before turning a murderous, yet tortured gaze on Dzara, "I think at least one person in this room knows exactly what happened!"

Dzara fought against the instinct to hunch closer to Mr. Pinstripe. Such an action would only serve to irritate him farther. She knew that Jacob didn't like to see her flinch away from him. To flinch now would do nothing but earn her a harsher punishment. Her punishment was already bound to be severe. There was no need to exacerbate it. She barely managed to swallow a bit of her panic as Jacob's tortured gaze turned back towards her.

"What happened?" she whispered, almost certain that was what he wanted from her, a question to allow him to continue his story.

With a bitter laugh, Jacob sat back in his chair, striking a cigar alight on the arm and placing it in his mouth, a parlor trick not unlike him but that he did not smoke, before he answered, "If my blushing bride wishes me to recount the tale of her own treachery, what can I do but oblige her?"

"Jacob Kendell was in that house when it burned to the ground," he nodded curtly in the darkness, "But far from being burned to death, he managed to break his way through the paneling of the bathhouse and float to relative safety along the disgusting current of the sewers below.

There he lay for what seemed like an eternity, determined to avenge himself at any cost. He thought briefly of coming home, but who could ever love him like this!!

So he visited an old friend. A gnome technician that owed him a favor. A new eye to pay off that loan for his last failed invention. Once again setting out into the world with his vision intact, old Jacob went to the one man he knew would have the answers. The boss man himself. And do you know what he told Jacob?"

Waiting for a long, tense moment, Jacob finally spat it out like a poison, "His loving wife had arranged the whole thing to collect his fortune for him!"

"Jacob Kendell is dead, you're quite right Mister Pinstripe," the crazed heir nodded a few times as he stood, "But then, you're no stranger to dual identities, are you Daniel?"

Dzara flinched at the words hurtled at her. Who could have told such a lie? She had done no such thing. She loved Jacob; she wouldn't kill him. She couldn't kill him. She bit her bottom lip for a moment, uncertain whether her denial would cause more trouble or get her out of it. It was always difficult to tell with Jacob.

She ignored the comment that was directed at Mr. Pinstripe. If he wasn't going to answer, then it must not be true....just like the warehouse. It was just words to try to separate her from her protector, exactly like what Cane Borrite tried to do. Despite her logical assurances to herself, a part of her still filed away the information to be pondered over at a later time. Jacob wouldn't lie, not to her.

"But I didn't try to have you kill." She spoke quickly, the words spilling over each other in her rush to get them out before Jacob decided to punish her. To her shame, the words were still faint. She just couldn't seem to get enough breath to give them more force. "I love you--I could never hurt you!"

"And yet you consort with the likes of him?!," Jacob blasted as he pointed a judging finger at Pinstripe, "Do you have any idea what those arms around you have done?! The necks they've snapped?! Pretty little necks just like yours!"

"Women are his favorite actually," the scarred phantom sneered, "He has no love of them whatsoever, and indeed who could blame him? It was a woman, after all, that lead him to where he is now."



"I have no desire to relive those days," Pinstripe finally spoke up.

"Oh, that's right!," Jacob clasped his hands together with a sardonic smile, revealing one of them to be just as burnt as the opposite side of his face, "You did go rogue, didn't you? I hear you're the most wanted man in the city now. So tell me, what finally caused Morae's pet killer to chew off his leash after all these years?"

"The only mad dog in this room is you," Pinstripe's voice did not raise, but his tone was clearly venomous.

Dzara's dark gaze moved from one man to the other as they agrued, uneasy with the growing vemon between them. A part of her wanted to move closer to Jacob, to ascertain that he really was alive, but fear of what he could do kept her from moving any closer, kept her at Mr. Pinstripe's side...where she was...safe? When had she started looking toward Mr. Pinstripe for protection so keenly? Then again, when had Jacob become so unreasonable?

"Jacob, please...don't do this..."

"Oh, but I haven't even begun!," Jacob laughed cruelly as he strolled around his desk like a pacing tiger and looked her right in the eyes, "And now that I see what a fool I was for allowing you to consort with such barbarians as these, we're going to go far away where they can't corrupt you any longer. Just you and me. You'll learn to love me again, and this time for who I am inside because you won't have a pretty face to look at any longer!"

His confidence only rising as Pinstripe tensed, Jacob motioned to his wife, "Come. Come here to me. He won't kill you now that he knows I'm watching. He'll need me to protect his secrets, which I will, if he lets us go."

For a moment, she relaxed. He forgave her. Everything would be alright. He forgave her. Her body twitched towards him, drawn in by his gaze like prey before a snake. Then the relief faded as the realization swept over her that she had done nothing to forgive.

What would happen next time he decided she had done wrong? The memory of her maid's face after being awakened in the middle of the night to heal her because of one of his punishments going far enough that she couldn't heal herself crossed her mind's eye. 'Just you and me,' he had said. There would be no Mireya to heal her next time...no Mr. Pinstripe to stop him from acting. Jacob got angry so quickly. She never truly knew what would set him off.

She couldn't stop the flinch that accompanied that thought, couldn't stop how her body turned slightly towards Mr. Pinstripe. So what if he was an assassin before tonight? So what if he hated women and had killed some before; was supposed to have killed her? For some reason she felt safer alone with him than with her own husband. She soundlessly gasped at the thought and shook her head in denial. It couldn't be true--it couldn't be.

But it was.

"Jacob," she said, turning back to face him fully. She couldn't quite meet his gaze again, not when she knew that she was about to anger him. But she still wanted to be able to watch his face, to gauge his reaction to her words. She swallowed hard past the lump that had grown in her throat and tried again. "Jacob...I....I love you, but I...I can't...can't go with you."

She could barely get the words out. They came, traitorous as they were, but only reluctantly and they were so quiet that she almost couldn't hear them herself. Maybe they wouldn't reach Jacob. Maybe he wouldn't hear her betrayal--maybe it wasn't too late!

The panic was back, and fiercer than before. She could feel the scar on her right shoulder tightening with her fear. The fingers of her right hand found the ring of her left and began twisting it. What was she going to do? She couldn't go with him--it wasn't safe--but how could she leave him when it was so obvious that he needed her? How could she leave him at all? She bit her bottom lip as her eyes prickled around the edges with tears. Ruthlessly, she swallowed the sob trying to break its way free. Crying would do no good.

It never did with Jacob.

The breeze picked up speed and strength. It played with a wisp of Dzara's hair before moving over to caress Jacob's scarred face and run invisible fingers through his dark hair. Despite it all, he was still handsome to her, still the man she loved.

"You see?," Jacob calmly strode forward as the breeze caressed his hair with her love for him, "He's twisted your mind already. You belong only to me my love. I'll remind you of that soon enough."

As he approached, Pinstripe finally made a move, stepping directly in front, hand on the hilt of his deadly blade. He was silent, but this single gesture spoke volumes.

"So you think you'll kill me too, Daniel?," Jacob almost growled at the impudence of the act, "You don't want to do that. You have no idea just how deep you're in all this, my misguided friend. Killing me will seal your own demise, and faster than you know."



"Last gasps of a dying man," Pinstripe called the bluff.

"You think so?," Jacob laughed, good and hard, before turning his back, as if to showcase the assassin's reluctance to act on his own stoic charade, "She never loved you, you know. Your Jessica?"

"Be still!," Pinstripe gritted his teeth.

"Haven't you ever asked yourself why after all this time?," Jacob pressed, lithely striding to a window to look out at the moon as he did so, "Have you never wondered how convenient it all was? Her leaving followed by another, and another, until they had you right where they needed you?"

"I said SHUT UP!," Pinstripe's eyes flashed with a murderous shine.

"It only angers you because it's the truth," Jacob laughed, "You're in their pocket. You and this whole city."

"I'm no one's lap dog!," Pinstripe lunged forward, ready to kill, but in that moment Jacob had pulled something from the windowsill and, in a flash of smoke, he was gone.