Clusterfrag

Max turns his attention at long last to the instigating source of his rage and fires ceaselessly on the troll goalie. Max understands that it is theoretically possible to kill with rubber bullets.

[ Max, Automatics + AGI = 5 ]
[ Troll, BOD + 4 (Armor Clothing) = 4 ] **9S DAMAGE**

Max's rounds bounce off the troll, making him stagger backwards.

[ Max, Automatics + AGI - 1 (RC) = 5 ]
[ Troll, BOD + 4 - 3 = 5 ] **8S DAMAGE**

The second burst does it and the huge troll crumples to the floor of the court.

Johnny Denim raises his hands in the air.

"It seems we have an upset!"

The sheer strain of maintaining 3 spells makes the (invisible) veins on Tyros' temples stand out.

As the troll falls Max lets out a bloodthirsty "HA!"

Standing victoriously on the ledge as the orb remains in play, Max continues pumping rubber rounds into the felled bodies of his enemies, starting first with and paying special attention to the troll, whom he sincerely hopes never wakes up.

Max's face appears on the scoreboard as the trideo cameras hone in on his position for a close-up. The bloodthirsty rage is written across his face in bold letters as the assault rifle eventually runs out of ammunition and clicks ineffectually. The crowd seems to feed on his malice and makes primal noises. Doc and Tyros are suddenly reminded of the stories of ancient Roman coliseums.

Tyros drops all three spells with a ragged exhalation as the ball rolls into the basket, having gained several hundred kilograms over its monotonous journey.

"They've done it! Score one for team sunshine!"

One of the riot-clad gunmen stirs but Rawhide kicks him in the ribs.

[ Challenge #2: The obstacle course ]

"Well, frag me sideways," mutters Rawhide.

After a quick commercial break (Buy Buzz Cola!) the show resumes. The runners are funneled through a corridor to a different part of the studio. The walls are charcoal black, covered in a strange material. A narrow walkway--a meter wide at best--extends outward, beset on all sides by swinging pendulums covered in broken glass, razor blades, and in some cases, an accelerant that's been set ablaze.

Just past the "walkway of death," lies a circular platform with a tesla coil in the middle. Arcs of electricity lap around its top-most point, crackling disconcertingly. After the "tower 'o electricity" is some kind of disturbance in the air--ripples, if you can call it that. Finally, a drawbridge affixed to some sort of mechanism with a tiny, round piece of metal bearing a crude depiction of a target.

"Welcome," intones Johnny Denim. "To the WIDOWMAKER!"

A small gaggle of trideo cameras descends on the team and begins taking glamour shots.

Tyros feels an intense pressure inside his head, as if the black walls are crushing in on him.

Max's bloodlust has largely subsided, and he has now more or less returned to his original, standoffish manner. Blurting out his impatience, he insists,

"Let's get this drek over with!"

Tyros switches his sight into the astral spectrum to try and understand the strange sensation the course seems to be creating.

Doc brushes at the broken glass with his boot.

"Well this is different. Shall we?"

He begins to approach the Widowmaker, observing the timing of the pendulums.

The astral plane is a mess--discordant light bouncing here and there. There's definitely some sort of astral obfuscation going on and channeling any magic is going to be extremely difficult.

Doc waits for the first pendulum to swing by, before leaping into the space between it and the next pendulum.

He keeps an eye out for pitfalls or traps.

[ Doc, Gymnastics + AGI - 1 (Defaulting) = 3 ]

Doc leaps past the pendulums, one by one, in between swings.

Max knows this setup. As a kid, his grandfather had once shown him what "video games looked like in his day," by giving him an unbearably ancient demonstration of "Prince of Persia," which in his estimation could only loosely be considered a game of any kind. Still, knowing what to do, Max moves on dodging the traps.

[ Max, Gymnastics + AGI = 3 ]

Max follows Doc, jumping nimbly in between the swinging columns 'o pain.

Landing safely beside his teammate, Max gives Doc a fantastic high five.

[ Rawhide, Gymnastics + AGI - 1 (Defaulting) = 0 ]

Rawhide jumps past the first pendulum, only to be struck by the second.

[ Rawhide, BOD + 4 = 3 ] **2P DAMAGE**

The dwarf swears as a bunch of glass comes off in his arm. He stumbles past the remaining pendulums, barely having retained his balance.

Doc kneels down, and inspects Rawhide's arm.

"Holy drek, you okay? Let me take a look at that."

Tyros frowns at the narrow space he needs to navigate and then down at his massive frame. "Umm, guys? Do we all have to get to the other side? Maybe I should just hang out here while you little people duck and dodge your way through?"

Doc's eyes track the flaming pendulum back and forth for a while, before calling back,

"Looks safe to me!"

Max is unimpressed with Tyros's apprehension,

"Sure Tyros, we'll just take care of everything that could get messy!"

Faintly disgusted, Max continues to press on.

Doc looks around him for anything loose that can be used as either an insulator or a conductor.

Tyros is unwilling to accept that this challenge would make him look like a coward in front of his partners. He still believes his position on holding back is perfectly reasonable given the situation, but apparently only his superior intellect is able to recognize it.

"Fine! You probably wouldn't make it without me anyway!"

Tyros does his best to time the pendulums and charges across the walkway.

Max blurts back in annoyance,

"We ALL have to go, Tyros! You're not special just because you're slow!"

[ Tyros, Gymnastics + AGI (3) - 1 (Defaulting) = 3 ]

(( Wow. Just... wow. Here's proof. +1 karma, as promised. ))

Tyros, somehow, despite all odds, manages to hurtle his bulky frame through the pendulums at the precise required timing.

Rawhide grins at Tyros.

"Good job, big fella. Must be some of that magic juju, huh?"

Doc looks at the crackling tesla coil with a frown.

He takes off his lined coat and hands it to Max.

"Max, you're good at throwing things. See if you can toss this over that big ball on the top of the tower. If it lands right, it should give a higher resistance to one side of the coil, which could let us slip by."

Tyros's giant grin flashes at his teammates and the cameras as he miraculously makes his way across the walkway without getting hit.

"Nothing to it, I tell you. I was just making a point about efficiency."

"If the coat fails, I can try levitating something heavy into the tesla coil. That might break it and cut the circuit. Although, there is some major magical interference here and using my powers could be very difficult and/or painful."

Taking the coat from Doc, Max throws it over the tesla coil.

Max takes a step back before hurling Doc's coat towards the tesla coil.

[ Max, Throwing Weapons + AGI (3) = 5 ]

The lined coat lands on the top of the coil and blankets a large portion of it.

Brimming with confidence, Tyros shouts, "follow me!" and dashes past the tesla coil on the side where the coat has created the greater resistence.

Doc moves in, shuffling along the outside of the room. He pays close attention to the hairs on his body, ready to jump back if they start to stand on end.

Happy to see Tyros taking lead full of piss and bravado (and perhaps even if only slightly hoping to see him get a shock), Max follows behind Tyros past the tesla coil which he disarmed.

Bolstered by the raucous cheering of the crowd, the intrepid team moves forward along the walkway. The narrow footing opens up to a circular platform, at the center of which is a disturbance of sorts. The air undulates and shimmers, as if being boiled.

Max takes a hard look at the scene, his enhanced elfin eyes searching for the source of or an explanation for the disturbance.

Doc looks at the anomaly, slightly confused. He feels for heat radiating out of the area, and looks for vents or other potential sources.