groovygamers.com

Sammy went to rehearsal as scheduled.  She had some backup, in the event there was trouble.

Nick seemed to be back to his old self.  He was doing his stand-up routine as usual before Sammy arrived.  He saw her come in and smiled, but didn't stop his performance.  He wrapped up as the last of the dance people came in, and everyone took over their own part of the auditorium to practice.

Torrance was with the dancers on stage, and Nick and Sammy moved over to where the band would be, which they'd been using to leave the stage open on most nights.  "I was afraid you were gonna back out on me.  I'm glad you decided to stay."

Sylvia is there in secret, watching Torrance like a hawk and listening with more than her ears.  She sits in the middle of the theater amid a gaggle of camouflaging choristers.

Sammy just smiles and shakes her head.  "If it had been just me, maybe, but I wouldn't do that to you.  Besides, people are going to want to see our performance now because of all the buzz.  We probably doubled the advance ticket sales.  I almost feel a little bit sorry for the other people in the show, because they're going to be totally thrown into the shadows.  Then again, none of them got beat up for their efforts."  She kneels down to adjust a shoelace that doesn't really need adjusting, and from behind the curtain of hair that moves forward to obscure her face she says "We're leaving the kiss in, right?"

Colin wanders around innocently, taking some photos for the paper.

Sarah lurks out of the way, in the back rafters with a view of the stage and all around if she ducks her head down a bit.

Donnie is probably off playing World of Warcraft or something.

"I was thinking we ought to.  Otherwise the rehearsal would look funny."

A smile emerges from its hiding spot behind her hair as she straightens herself up again.  "Good.  I hoped you would want to keep doing it."

"And."  he adds, moving a little close, "Not to pressure you or anything, but we need to talk.  Just to make sure we're all on the same sheet of music, if you follow me?"

The dance team is working hard on the steps for their routine.  Torrance is driving them like some kind of vicious dance teacher clapping out the timing for the number like it's the beat of a Tell Tale Heart.  She seems to be ignoring Sammy and Nick as she works with the dance team.

OOC: I need everyone in the auditorium to make a Fort Save DC 16

OOC: I am so... so so very in trouble.

Fort save (1d20=1) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1426411)

Fortitude Save (1d20+3=13) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1426425)

Sylvia shrugs off any discomfort (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1426439); her concentration is so intense.

Sammy nods her head slowly.  "That's a good idea.  But rehearsal is not a good place to... talk.  Not right now at least.  Got any suggestions?"

She's too focused on what Nick is saying to care about whatever Torrance might be doing.

1d20+2=20 (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1426578)

OOC: Everyone that failed the save read this and act accordingly.

The dancers take a break for a couple of minutes.  A few of them are complaining it's very warm inside.  Then the usual chatter is disrupted by some kissing, and fondling.  Lots of kissing and fondling actually.  Everyone things it's a little warm inside, and someone goes to the auditorium doors, but they wont open, someone seems to have chained them from the outside.  There might be a panic, if there weren't so many attractive boys and girls to occupy your thoughts and hands.

Sylvia feels it, it's a surge in what might be lust, but more refined than that.  It's in them, building up slowly, and they're acting on it.  It's not mental in nature, it's chemical.  Torrance doesn't seem to be effected, but she's worried by it.

Sammy notices a shift in Nick's posture, and she feels something wrong with the air.  Something that doesn't belong in it.  Suddenly she realizes she's stopped breathing, like a reflex.  She waits, and doesn't feel any of the effects of not breathing.  The gleam in Nick's eyes is unmistakable, and he's looking at Sammy.

OOC: So, the more you failed the save by the worse the effect on you.  If things look like they're going to get confusing I'll go to combat time.  Until then, try and have fun  ;D

Sammy leans in close and whispers to Nick "Not here.  Not in front of everybody else.  Just you and me all alone would be soooo much better, don't you think?  Let's find a place just for the two of us.  Do you know your way around the catwalks?  Or maybe under the stage?"  She takes his hand and holds it firmly.  Then she starts a wind scouring around the stage and seats, stirring up all the loose dust in the area.  If she can get enough in the air, maybe it'll set off the auditorium smoke detectors.  She starts visually scanning the area, looking for another way out.

Colin didn't know the dancers were so attractive. Incredibly so, actually. He starts taking a lot of photos. But those dancers gets closer and closer, finally someone takes the camera away from him. A blond girl leans in to kiss him. She was chewing on some strawberry-flavored bubblegum, and they start to play with it in his mouth. He feels really hot so he gets off his sweater, and then his shirt as well. A boy sees the tattoo on his shoulder and says "Cool!", then he start to nibble on it. This tickles Colin, he makes him laugh. Then he feels someone trying to unbuckle his belt...

Sylvia looks around the theater, eyes narrowed.  She fixes on Colin, Sammy, and Sarah.  Are you all right?  It's something in the air.  It's not Torrance.  Repeat.  Not Torrance--

Then she gets a vibe off of Sarah.  Um.  Sarah?  Sa-a-a-rah?  Sarah?

Aw, hell.

Colin?  Colin!  Sylvia flinches at what's going on in that corner of the room and slaps him with all astringent anti-lasciviousness she can muster, like a cold bucket of water.  SNAP OUT OF IT, YOU PERV!

[Edit:  Sylvia didn't give Colin enough grief the first time.  :)  ]

I'm fine, Sylvia.  Guess what -- I don't have to breathe anymore!  If the smoke detectors go off, don't freak, its just me stirring up dust and cleaning the air, or at least giving everybody a cold shower.  I'm going to try to find out where this is coming from too.  Call John?  Have him bust open the doors?  <evil internal cackle> Oooh! Poor widdle Towwance wooks aww upset!  Maybe nobody wants to make out wiff her.

All that plastic surgery has her looking like Barbie.  Maybe people are afraid she's not anatomically correct.

Sylvia reaches out to John.  Help!  And for God's sake, don't breathe when you get here.

Sylvia needs to make a power check (1d20+3) vs. Colin's Will Save (1d20+6)  Good luck.

OOC:  once again curse you posters who get all post happy while I'm stuck on a train commuting.  Also - OH GOD!!!  Failed roll by 15.. so let me see...

Sarah gulps and feels sweat trickling down her neck and between.. well...  The party was just getting started downstairs.  She pops down behind the curtain and out of most of her clothes.  happily she coordinated today. 

An underwear clad Sarah strolls across the stage and towards a very tasting looking Colin in a crowd of people she's suddenly very happy to see.  The first boy to cross her path gets a kiss on the neck the next one pulled in close.  She was going to kiss her way over to Colin and see if she couldn't find a new tattoo he hadn't mentioned yet.  Sarah's having a party and everybody is invited!

Power Check (1d20+3=22) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1427018)

---

Sylvia can think of little she'd like to see less than Colin naked.  She does her best to ensure that doesn't happen.

Will Save I really want to fail (1d20+6=19) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1427024)

Sammy notices Colin in the middle of... what are they doing?  For some reason it reminds her of an Escher drawing.  Oh Crud!  Then she sees Sa... Ohmigawd Sarah!

"This way, stud," she says to Nick, and literally plows her way through the crowd straight at Colin.  She grabs one of his hands and slams it hard onto her own tattooed skin.  "CROW!", she says, in as commanding a voice as she can muster, "Sarah needs your help NOW."

Colin feels a calm wash over him.  He realizes that as much as he enjoyed the sensations that were running through him, he was not himself.  Then he sees Sarah, scantily clad Sarah making her way towards him and running into every boy along the way.

Sammy appears like magic and takes his hand, placing it on her tattoo.

OOC: Colin I need a Will Save DC 14

Yet another Will Save (1d20+6=13) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1427051)

Sammy sees Colin's eyes narrow, and he opens his arms.  There is a moment when he has a pair of ethereal wings that sweep everyone out of the way leaving a clear path between him and Sarah.  Then the wings are gone, and the lights begin to pop, one, then another, then like a rain of darkness they begin to burst leaving an ever growing ring of darkness around him.  This darkness is soon replaces by smoky figures that fly around the room like ghosts from some third rate horror film.  They fade in and out of existence as they circle the room, like sharks getting ready to feed.  Colin roars with a volume and tone that shakes the stage, and the spirits change directions and dart for the doors, passing through the cracks and out into the school.  A moment later the tattoos on his arms begin to burn, and then a searing light erupts from them in long tendrils, snaking out to everyone in the auditorium that was effected.  The tendrils pass through their chests, into their hearts and they fall down, unconscious.

OOC: Sarah gets to make a Fort Save DC 13 to not pass out

There is a horrible sound at the main doors of twisting metal and a second later they're opened and John is standing there.

Colin is back to normal at this point.

Sammy sags in relief, tension flowing out of her body.  "John!" she says,  as she lowers Nick gently to the ground,  "I'm so happy to see you."

"Ah."  John says, "You don't want to kiss me do you?"  he says, holding up his hands.  "Am I not supposed to breath?"

OOC:Sammy can tell that she swept most of whatever it was up high into the auditorium and it got pushed out the ventilation shafts to the outside.

Sylvia takes off her knitted coat as she goes up to the stage.  She puts it over Sarah, tucking it around her with a worried look on her face.  "I'm thinking you don't do something like this without watching.  What would be the fun?" she says grimly.  "Anyone see a camera around here?"

"It's the auditorium, there are a bunch here."  John says checking some of the people on the stage.  "What happened?"

OOC:  Fort again (1d20=9) (http://invisiblecastle.com/find.py?id=1427101)

Sarah rubs the coat and smiles at Sylvia.  "That's so sweet of you Sylvia.  This feels really nice."  She looks at her for a long moment and says, "You have the most amazing eyes."  She leans towards Sylvia with a very eager expression.

Colin looks down at his arms in silence for a moment, then he re-buckles his belt, grabs his shirt and gets over to assist Sylvia with Sarah ready to catch her if she passes out too. Poor Sarah. "I'm sorry" he whispers to her.


"The room has been love goo-ed. When Sylvia and Sammy woke me up, I got angry, and I'm not really sure what I've done. I'm tired of this."

He takes a look around. "So it was in the air this time?"

Sylvia abruptly stands up, grabs Colin by the elbow as he approaches, and drags him down to Sarah.  She heads up toward the AV station like it's more important than it really is.

Sarah turns in Colin's arms and leans up whispering, "You know what I'd like to do to you?  Well..." 

Colin never hears the answer as Sarah droops in his arms, blacking out. 

Colin takes her in his arms. A few months ago he wouldn't have managed, but thanks to the constant training he's gotten stronger.

"Somebody should call the principal, if he doesn't already know. They have to call the families. All these people should get some sleep in their bed. I'll take care of her until her mom comes."

He sits in a corner, cuddling her.

Blackbird? I've blacked out a bit. Can you explain what's happened? Though I'm afraid I know.

Sammy suddenly remembers that Torrance might still be around and paying attention, so she edits her speech.

"I don't want to kiss boys who don't want to kiss me," she retorts.  "That's no fun at all.  But I think you're safe now.  The place was filled some kind of airborne contaminant that made people start kissing and feeling each other up.  For what might be the first time this year, I was exposed to love goo and I wasn't affected.  Then they all fell unconscious to the ground.  Some might have hit their heads.  When they remember what happened, they might wish they had hit them harder."

You have sent vengeful spirits to punish the people responsible.

Some of the school admin staff come in from the hall.  They look around and begins to see if everyone is alright.  Principal Landis arrives a moment later and looks around the room.  He lets his gaze rest on Sammy for a moment, then Colin and Sylvia.  "Someone care to tell me what's going on?"

Sammy decides she's talked enough to the principal today, this week, this month, this year.  She just gives him a resigned "Yes, it is me, your resident disaster magnet" glance, then sits down all the way and cradles Nick's head on her lap.  "Wakie-wakie," she whispers. "You need to wake up and convince the principal that he shouldn't cancel the concert."

It only takes a moment for Torrance to speak up and tell the entire story.  She adds nothing, but does leave out the entire magic coming from Colin and replaces it with "And then there was a flash of light."  The police are called and paramedics summoned.  Word reaches the auditorium that strange ghostly apparitions attacked three boys on campus.  They've suffered cuts and bruises but are otherwise alright. 

It's only a few minutes before people start to wake up.  Most of them only remember the auditorium being very hot and then everything gets fuzzy.  Sarah has the faintest recollection of teleporting out of her cloths and looking for Colin.  As a precaution the paramedics administer the antidote for the love-goo to everyone that was in the auditorium when the attack occurred.

The whole mess is cleared up when the police find the cannister in the upper catwalks.  It was set on a remote to deploy the gas, and when the police search everyone in the auditorium, they find the remote on one of the boys that was attacked by the ghosts.  He's taken into custody, and Sylvia can tell from his frame of mind that he'll roll over on his two friends the second they give him a chance to talk.

The fire department isn't sure how the gas dispersed.  They think an exhaust fan must have come on and sucked it outside.  The admin staff agree, since the reason they came racing down here was a fire alarm light on at the panel in the office, but no alarm.  The fire captain explains that type of thing can happen if a lot of dust gets kicked into the air.

About an hour and a half after it started, the police and paramedics clear everyone to go home.

OOC: At some point in the future the boys will get names.  Until then try not to loose sleep over it.

Sarah snuggled into the warmth but was slowly waking up.  There were so many voices.  She opens her eyes and realizes she's resting in Colin's arms.  The memory of recent events filters in and her happy nap vanishes.  "Oh god.  Oh god oh god ohgodohgod."  She sits up quickly and looks down.  Sarah is madly relieved to find she is wearing Sylvia's coat. 

She blushes a pink that clashes with her hair and looks at Colin.  "I'm ... oh, I'm so sorry.  Could you come with me to get my clothes?  I think I left them behind the curtain over there."

Sammy hangs around quietly in the background while the affected kids get checked out.  When Nick is cleared, she walks up next to him and bumps him with her shoulder.  "Hey," she says.  "You passed out, so there's no way I'm going to leave you alone.  Its the wrong direction, but my house is closer than yours, and its warmer walking than waiting for a bus.  How about you walk home with me, and my mom or dad can give you a ride from there?"  She pauses a moment.  "It'll give us a chance to talk too, if you still want to do that."

Nick nods, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.  And, I appreciate you sticking around for me."  He gets his stuff and they head out.

OOC: To be continued in another thread.

Colin still has only his unbuttoned shirt on. He's cold, but that's what he wants to feel now. Cold.

"Sure. And you have nothing to be sorry about. It wasn't your fault." He lets her gently down and helps her up. Once they're there, he pulls the curtain to give her at least a little privacy as she gets dressed. He doesn't look either, except at her feet.

"I... I scared myself today. I lost control. Twice. I don't like how it makes me feel, even if it means we have a problem less to worry about."


"I could. But you usually don't like my explanations, sir."

"I know it wasn't my fault but it's still not fair.  So the love goo fairy paid us all another visit?  Was Torrance affected?  I didn't even notice.  All I suddenly wanted was..."  Sarah blushed again. 

"I'm really glad you manged to snap out of it.  You saved us and solved things.  Do you think you really lost control?  I don't.  I think you got mad, and that's not the same thing.  I think your powers work a lot more differently than the rest of ours.  Yours are tied in with your feelings.  When you get mad the sky darkens and the thunder rumbles.  When I get mad Robb and Greg crack jokes.  Dave is courteous enough to remain silent.  But that's not the point."  She waves off her sidetracking and continues on, "You have some amazing abilities which I don't know if you'll ever totally get the hang of.  I don't think you were granted access to them to have power for whatever or whenever you want.  I think maybe somehow you were given power for when power is needed.  I can port to Chicago for a slice of pizza.  I don't know if you could do something similar with your powers or not.  Have you tried using them selfishly?  Just for something to do?"

"I got mad, and sent a horde of vengeful spirits to do my bidding. They went easy on them, but what if I had been madder? What if I can mad at someone who doesn't deserve it? I have to be careful. My feelings can hurt."

He looks down. "What makes me worry most is that a part of me is glad I did. A part of me... liked it. And I don't want to be like that."

He looks straight in her eyes again. "Do you know what I was most mad about? That this way... it wouldn't have been special. When it's going to happen, between us, I want it to be special."

Sarah almost laughs at Colin's reasoning but she realizes he's serious.  She was stuck for words for a moment.  "That's...  I don't know what to say.  Well, a couple people recently talked to me.  It was about accepting responsibility.  Accepting the burden that can come from your choices.  If you're worried that you are going to tear someone apart over something like that... then maybe you should call up Bobby?  Maybe he would have some advice for you?  What does your friend say about it?"  She taps her head implying Blackbird.


"But I might have an answer for you about being so mad.  It doesn't have to be romantic, flower strewn and perfect for anything to be special with us Colin.  It will be special because it's us.  This love in the air lowered my inhibitions.. a lot... but it didn't change my feelings for you.  Just removed the layers of common sense, doubt and fear of consequences." 

She sighs but with a smile and says, "Besides, don't put too much expectation into that event.  I mean, if you build it up into some perfect moment how are you going to feel if I accidentally jam my elbow in your ear in the middle of things?"  She shrugs and says, "There's a first for everything."  

She leans forward and kisses him on the cheek.  "But there's also a second."  She kisses him on the neck.  "And a third."  A longer kiss on the mouth.  "So no worries."

"Well, what he usually says is that with time I'm going to learn, by which I guess he implies I'm quite anxious about stuff and I should relax more."


He looks at her in amazement for a moment. "See, you make everything better. That's your superpower I like most. Thank you." he says, hugging her and holding her close.