In a sudden turn; Mandarin, Marrow, Hawkgirl and Doc S
amson appear before their enemies.

"Hope we're ready now," Marrow says.

"We'll have to be, kiddo, " jokes Hawkgirl, "We'll have to be."

Thing moves to I21.

Shade creates a Smoke Cloud in I20, J19, K19, L19. No push damage thanks to Willpower

Remember, you'll have to stop moving when you enter the hindering terrain of the cloud, so no Charging for you!

Thing @ I21 (w/HO)
Shade @@ O19
Blob Q20
Lady Shiva O21

"There they are," Blob observed.
"Mexican standoff," the Thing said.
"Maybe not," Shade disagreed. "If you want to move up, I'll cover you."
"Sure?"
"Trust me."
That "trust me" chilled Ben Grimm to the bone, but he had little choice, he moved up into the room adjacent to the one thier enemies were in, while Shade conjured up a cloud of inky darness to hide him from their eyes.

I outwitted Shade's willpower on my last turn (see post). I'll let you decide if you want the move to count as a push or to redo it. Let me know and then I'll do my next move.

Whoa. Missed that Outwit. Sorry. Well, leave it as is. I'll take the push damage on Shade.

And I was thinking of Doc Samson when I said that smoke cloud would stop his charge. Hawkgirl as a flier isn't hindered by terrain, so she could get through it, but she's also got 2 tokens so it's a moot point.

Mandarin carries Doc Samson to F18, he's F19.

Mandarin @@F19 (1)
Doc Samson F18
Marrow H18
Hawkgirl G20

"What's all this smoke?" Marrow asks coughing.

"Just hold your breath and ...hey where's Mandarin and Samson?" Hawkgirl asks. She turns around a few them now a few places behind her.

"Mandarin---why did you teleport us here?" Samson asks.

"I won't question your 'wisdom' in your arena of psychiatriy, do not question mine in that of battle. You are needed here. That is enough."

"Not enough for me. I---none of us--are your chess pieces to..."

Samson is silenced by activity coming from the enemy camp.

Nice defense. Pull back to where the Thing can't get them. Very good move indeed, even if you did have to push Mandarin to do it.

Lady Shiva will move to I16 (stealthed).

Blob moves to K21

Thing I21 (w/HO)
Shade O19 (1 click)
Blob @ K21
Lady Shiva @ I16 (stealth)

"They're withdrawing a bit," Shade informed the rest of his team.
"Ya mean my surprise has been ruined?" the Thing asked. "Nuts."
"You'll get your chance soon enough," Lady Shiva said. "In the meantime, we have a chance to advance to better position from which to strike."
"Yeah," the Blob agreed, lumbering up to join the Thing in the side office. "I'm good with that."

Ok time to gamble:

Hawkgirl uses charge to H17, attacks Shiva in I16. Needs 6, rolls 8. Her super senses roll is 2. So 3 clicks to Lady Shiva.

Marrow will attack Blob. Doc Samson will perplex her damage to 4. Needs 6, rolls 12. So that's 4 to Blob plus knockback to L21 where he hits the wall for 5 clicks total. Minus 1 for toughness so 4 total.

Mandarin F19 (1)
Doc Samson F18 (w ho)
Marrow@ H18
Hawkgirl @H17

Is it too personla to say I'm scared of your Thing?

"The boys are backing off. Not me," Marrow says, "Hey tubs. Incoming!"

Blob sees Marrow's bone weapons coming at him. Although he knows he can't move to avoid them he doesn't fear them. "Yeah, g'head, babe. Maybe next you'll try throwing hairpins at me. I'm the Blob, ain't nuthin' hurts me." On cue the bones strike pointy end in. "YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!" suddenly Blob is bombarded with painful bone jabs.

"Didn't know you could run so fast, tubs," Marrow says.

Meanwhile Hawkgirl runs after the missing Lady Shiva. "here is she? I know she went over here somewhere".

"Hawkgirl," Lady Shiva says and strikes a martial artist pose.

Hawkgirl nods, "Lady Shiva. I hear you've given Batman quite a time. How about a turn for me?"

"Well I usually prefer a challenge," she replies.

"I'll see what i can do".

They run at each other like two locomotives smashing. Lady Shiva hits Hawkgirl with a sharp but blunted hit. In reply Hawkgirl smashes her with her deadly mace. Shiva goes fliyng.

"Impossible..." Lady Shiva says, bleeding and getting up.

Hawkgirl bats her mace into her hand, "Sure was. Ready to try it again?"

Actually, I invoke the little used "Characters with Charge are unaffected by knockback" rule in the Blob's favor. Of course he doesn't have Charge any more, but he did when you hit him, and that's what counts. So Blob will take the 3 points from the attack (4 -1 for Toughness, but no knockback)

Pretty devastating turn for me anyway though.

Okay, seems a bit of a waste, but the Thing will charge to I17 and attack Marrow. AV10 to hit DV16. He needs a 6. Gets a 7. Marrow's SS roll is a 4, which fails. So she takes 4 +2 for a HO, making it 6, enough for the KO.

Shade creates another smoke cloud in I20, J19, K18 and L17.

Thing @ I17
Shade @ O19 (1 click)
Blob K21 (3 clicks)
Lady Shiva I16 (3 clicks)

From his hiding place, the Thing watched aghast as the Blob was subjected to Marrow's attack.
"That's it! Blob may not be my favorite person, but I ain't just gonna hang around twiddlin' my thumbs and let somethin' like that happen to a teammate."
He hefted the desk that he was using as a makeshift weapon and rushed out at Blob's attacker. Before she knew what was happening, Marrow took the full brunt of Grimm's attack and was sprawled out unconscious on the floor. "There," he said. "That oughta learn ya."

Shade saw that his darkness was beginning to dissipate, so he concentrated and again a darkness blacker than night filled the office area.

Devasting turn for you? I'm out 25% of my team in one fell swoop.

Mandarin outwits Thing's invulnerability. Doc Samson perplexes his damage to 4. Needs 7, rolls 9 (first roll was a 12 again but I wasn't sure if the dice actually rerolled so i did it again). 4 clicks to Mr. Grimm.

Hawkgirl will attack Thing. Needs 6, rolls 6 (2 3s). 3 clicks to Thing plus he is knocked back to M17 (hits wall--adding 1 click to him for another click).

Mandarin@ F19 (1)
Doc Samson F18 (w ho)
Hawkgirl @@H17

"The Thing. One of the vaunted Fantastic Four. I believe you may be our greatest threat," Mandarin states.

"Mandarin. Yer purdy rings are all that stands between me putting you in a starring role of my own verson o' "Six Feet Under."

"Then we shall not let you get to those rings, agreed?" he says as he lifts up his right hand and fires his impact ring. It's followed by his left hand delivering a fire blast. And he continues the assault.

For a moment the Mandarin pauses. "Dat it, Mandy? You must be gettin' old."

Hawkgirl smacks him with her mace, "Actually thing, that ISN'T it."