Log:Best of the Best 2069, Scene 3

Best of the Best 2069 2019/12/12 	 Chen Hotfoot Natasha Supernal Deputy Mayor Jane Demitrius Union Artemis Rushmore Sinmore Crimson Cerulean Thunder Victory Star Girl Renegade Abigail

3

The Coliseum was always impressively large, but the renovated stadium is breathtaking. It stretches in a vast oval, with the narrow ends climbing to a greater height, giving the impression of a great ship; from this "bow" and "stern" lights shine down upon the arena. Large screens relay any action too remote to see directly. The Coliseum was always impressively large, but the renovated stadium is breathtaking. It stretches in a vast oval, with the narrow ends climbing to a greater height, giving the impression of a great ship; from this "bow" and "stern" lights shine down upon the arena. Large screens relay any action too remote to see directly.

It's the day of the first team event of the Best of the Best - The Tug O' War. Prior years had involved teams pulling against each other. But not today. Today, the heroes will pull against the military might of the local Army base's construction vehicle. It looks somewhat like a tank, with treads and a couple of collapsable digging implements mounted on the top of it. Most importantly, there is a strong chain attached to the back...and a couple of marked lines for where a win....or loss...against the vehicle would be delineated.

The deputy mayor, Jane Demitrius speaks into the microphone, addressing the crowd, "Thank you all for coming today! This is the first event of this year's competition, and I'm looking forward...as I'm sure you all are as well...to a fine display from our...local...heroes!"

The blatant pandering to the crowd does indeed get some cheering.

Natasha, from Chen's shoulder, looks at the vehicle with some dismay. It's rather big! But still she poses for the crowd.

The Deputy Mayor states, "The first team up will be that of...Artemis, Sinmore, and Rushmore."

One section of the crowd is a group of adults and kids. Well two groups. One teen group aged about 16. The adult group in their mid twenties. Half the teens are wearing British army uniforms. The other half the same school uniforms.

Thunder whistles a bit at the size of the vehicle, then looks to Union and Crimson. "Ready for this?"

Union takes a deep breath. "I think so."

Artemis laughs and moves to try and put an arm around Sinmore and Rushmore if they allow it. She's all buddy buddy, even with (alleged) villain associates. "Hah, we get to test ourselves first against this craft of land-bound metal!? Simplicity, Friends!"

Crimson bods to Union and Thunder, "All we can do is our best."

Rushmore(#2655TOn)

This is a humanoid shape, standing about eight feet tall. No obvious clothing on it, but it is entirely made out of rock. Rather than a human with rocky skin, it looks like...rocks moving in concert with each other.

Supernal is glad her team isn't up first. It gives her more time to bask in the adulation of the crowd, and, more importantly, the rays of the sun!

Rushmore nods and chuckles. "I'm ready." His voice echoes a bit. He also doesn't have hands, exactly. Instead, when he goes to grab the Questionite chain, the rocks of his hands morph around the chain to take hold.

Crimson suggests to her team mates, "We ought to have Thunder call the pulls. He's the strongest of us I think."

Thunder blinks a few times, looking to Crimson and Union, "Uh... I've never really done something like that?"

Artemis steps up to the chain and draws her sword. She swings it at the chain and it separates into a whip, wrapping tight around the chain. With a few twists, she wraps herself up in her whip as well, winding it once around her waist so she can pull with more leverage.

Sinmore isn't at full size (yet), so Artemis has to get up on tip-toes to get her arm across the fire giantess' shoulders. For balance reasons, Sinmore stands approximately the same 8' in height that Rushmore stands. The fire giantess leans over slightly and stage whispers to Artemis, "Wasn't there supposed to be a team time? Like, Awesome Immortal Brawlers or something?"

Crimson tells Thunder, "When you're set ready to pull, just shout and we'll time our pulls with you. That okay, Union?"

A judge comes out to officiate, but not too closer, just in case. He raises a hand. "When I drop my arm...start pulling."

Union says, "Sounds good to me."

Artemis shrugs at Sinmore. "If that is what you wish to call us, then so be it! We shall wave the banner of 'Awesome Immortal Brawlers!'" Artemis is rash to proclaim the first thing that came out of Sinmore's mouth, even if it was meant to just be an example.

Natasha watches carefully, trying to see if there's any tactics to this, or if it's just brute strength.

As Artemis steps up to ensnare the chain with her swordwhip, Sinmore steps up behind and picks up a large segment of the chain. She wraps the chain around both of her hands, body swelling larger toward her full height as she waits for Rushmore to grab hold of the chain as well.

The judge waits for them to get ready...and drops his hand.

Chen mentions to Natasha, "I think this is mostly going to be about brute strength and timing our pulling."

Thunder gives a nod to his two team mates. "Alright."

- Tug O' War Rules(#1381TOn)

Welcome to the First Team Event of the Best of the Best Competition.

This first event is designed to test the strength of each team in a slightly non-traditional tug of war contest. The teams will compete to pull a functioning military construction vehicle that is fighting against them. Each team (and the vehicle) will start 20m away from the center. Three members per team will participate. The actions will be done in combat phases. When a person pulls, the team will pull back to resist. Strength rolls will be rolled. If the body score for the defenders' STR roll exceeds the attackers then there is no movement. If the attacker's body score is higher then the difference in body scores will be the distance pulled. Endurance is used when attacking and defending. If you wish to coordinate your attack then one must hold one's action until everyone has an action before using it. There does not need to be a coordination roll. Each team member will roll their str roll and add up the body scores to determine the total body score. Each defender can decide whether or not they will resist the pull. If they do they will roll their str. If more than one defender resists then the body scores will be added up for the total defense score. Remember to account for end use whenever you use str to attack or defend. If you attack and defend in the same segment then end is only used once. You can push after the opening seg 12, not during.

KBR and Clinging will help with the team as their abilities will factor into resisting pulls. When you get pulled you lose distance. The team that pulls other team a net 20m first wins.

Your score is the time (in seconds) that it takes to defeat the construction vehicle. ---

The pull...literally takes one second. The three heroes...heave...and the vehicle apparently slips in the dirt, despite its weight, and is pulled with a yanks across the line.

Natasha nods, and winces as the apposing team wins so quickly.

Chen nods as she watches, "About what I expected. Each one of that team could just pick the construction tank up and carry over the line."

That gets the crowd to perk up significantly. There's a lot of cheering and whistling from the people in the stands!

Rushmore looks surprised. "Maybe I should have been on another team, based on that. Most impressive."

Thunder winces, then looks at the team mates. "Yeah, that's going to be hard to beat?"

Natasha says, "For the first time, I wish I were older."

The judges reset the vehicle...and also makes sure the driver understands how the clutch on it works. Because something did seem off with how easy that was.

Artemis heaves with the team. "Pull as one! Heave! Ho!" and with that, Artemis is surprised by the sudden cheering and looks, seeing they've passed the mark. "Hahah! A win! Worth celebrating, friends! A ritual of Za tonight!" she twirls once to unwrap her whip, then snaps her wrist to release the chain, the whip forming into a sword again. She sheathes it and smiles at Rushmore. "I know you cannot eat the Piz-za, but perhaps we can find another way to celebrate. Are you able to enjoy hot springs?"

Rushmore chuckles, a deep echoing laugh, "Hot springs are wonderful. So is a sauna."

Sinmore blinks a few times after the team yanks the construction vehicle 20 meters in a single, well-timed tug.

"Wow. I did not expect that to go so smoothly."

Pause.

"... Za... Where are you learning English from, Artemis?"

Supernal shakes her head. . o O (Oh well, I'm only in it for the fun!)

Crimson looks at her team mates. "Cerulean is talking to the judges. I'll both pull with you."

Thunder's eyebrows raise at that as he looks at Crimson. "Are you sure?"

Artemis laughs and floats up to pat each of her tall teammates on the shoulder. "Then it shall be hot springs and pizza to celebrate!" The mead goes without saying. She looks to Sinmore and smiles. "My squire has taught me about the Za as a bonding team ritual. I shall procure some from the Flying Saucer."

The Deputy Mayor says, "Wow...let's hear it for....let's see...they have a name now...The..Awesome Immortal Brawlers!" She smirks, but just goes with it. "It does look like everyone will be fighting to tie at best after that! The next team up...is the team of..."

Crimson points to the group of adults and teens, "Many of my friends and relatives are here. Got to show them I'm not the wimp they think I am."

"... Za," repeats Sinmore, staring at Artemis with haunted horror in the green flames that are her eyes.

Natasha leans forward in anticipation.

A judge comes over to speak to the Deputy Mayor, who then nods. She says, "The team of...Union, Thunder, Crimson, and Cerulean. I've been informed that the last two count as a single person by the judges, so it's still...three people."

Artemis nods firmly to Sinmore. "Maybe I am saying it wrong. Pete's Za?"

Natasha sniffs suspiciously in the direction of Crimson and Cerulean.

Thunder nods, moving over to the chain as he picks it up firmly. He makes sure he's in the front, too, just in case. Already he has taken a stance more for strength and pulling as well as focused his ki where he wants it. Fully on his muscles as he looks to his team with a nod.

Sinmore leads Artemis off to the sidelines with Rushmore. "Stop saying it like that. You sound like my dad," comes Sinmore's light(-hearted) admonishment.

Rushmore laughs. "She speaks like all of the hip kids."

Natasha settles back on Chen's shoulder again, but with narrowed eyes following the alleged 2-in-1 competitor.

Union takes up her station at the end of the chain and prepares herself to resist being pulled from her feet.

Chen and Cerulean move up too. one gripping the chain behind Thunder, the other taking the last position.

Artemis walks along with Sinmore, laughing merrily. "Don't be absurd, Friend Sinmore. I'm much older than him."

Chen whispers to Natasha, feeling the tenseness in the dragonette. "Part of my family. The wolf side.!

Again the judge waits for the team of teens to get set. "On my mark..." He waits...and then drops his hand.

Natasha nods. She had guessed. Still, it seems that much less fair when on a team of two!

Sinmore groans at Rushmore and Artemis, shaking her head a little bit.

Chen adds in a whisper, "Would you believe they are my aunts. Ten years younger than me too."

Natasha nods. She can believe many things. She was brought up by Amy, after all.

The team does a great job...pulling against the vehicle's traction. But clearly the driver also managed to do a better job. The vehicle is pulled a full 12m in the first second...

Thunder readies himself, then calls out, "PULL!" He shouts.

Crimson enthuses, "One more effort like that!"

The crowd starts to cheer again as teh teenagers show off their strength. The crowd noise builds up as their continue to pull...

Natasha can't help but eye the weak points of the vehicle. But, this contest is about strength, not about doing things the sensible way.

Artemis cheers the teens along with the crowds.

Crimson and Cerulean are giving it their all. Both push themselves as hard as they can.

Crimson grabs both Thunder and Union in a triumphant double hug.

The second surge is enough to pull the tank across the line...in a time of 4 seconds.

Thunder tightens his grip, then heaves harder than the first time with a yell as the tank makes it over the line. Breathing heavily, he gives his team mates a triumphant hug as well with a laugh. "Alright!"

Artemis claps and cheers for the teenage team. "Good form!"

A much more manageably sized Sinmore, standing a "mere" 7' tall at the moment, claps for the teenagers. "Woo! Way to go!"

Supernal joins in the applause.

Again the crowd roars its approval.

Natasha leans forward again, eager to see who's next!

Chen grins, "Good for them. The lead puller did most of that."

The Deputy Mayor steps up again, "Let's hear it for some of the youngest heroes in the tournament!" Again the crowd cheers... She then says, "The next team up is...Stone Jackson, Grizzly, and Rebel, representing the Champions of Liberty!"

Natasha looks about to spot the new team.

All three wave to the crowd as they head to the pulling chain. Stone acts as the anchor, with Grizzly in front of him, and Rebel in front.

Again the judge raises his hand...and drops it, to start the pull...

...and the tank only moves about 6m. But it does get pulled. It seems that Artemis poached one of their strongest members.

The tank pulls back...but the team manages to hold firm, despite Stone losing his footing.

The team pulls again...moving it some distance, but not quite over the line yet. They're short about 4m.

And a couple of second later...they manage to finish, with a time of 6 seconds. (Phase 5)

Rebel(#2917TOn)

A young woman, dressed in denim cutoff shorts, knee boots, and a halter top with a Revolutionary War battle flag pattern on it. Her hair is long, but tied back in a pony tail.

The crowd again cheers, but not as loudly as they did for the teens. Still...Rebel ends up giving a kiss to one of the fans in the stands. She jumps up onto the wall and plants a kiss on him before jumping down.

Supernal applauds politely, while wondering how common stony people are.

Sinmore cheers and claps for this team of alleged villains.

"They did a real good job!"

Thunder claps as well, still on a bit of a high from how well his own team did.

Crimson claps, then says quietly to Thunder and Union, "We won't be last anyway."

Artemis applauds the Champions of Liberty's finish. She applauds equally for all, unless they cheat.

The Deputy Mayor says, "Next, we have a team of...two. This shoudl be a challenge for sure! Natasha...and Chen Li!"

Natasha perks upright on Chen's shoulder and waves to the crowd!

The tank is reset again and the judge waits for the contestants to get ready.

Chen advances to the starting line and bulks up her muscles. Less obvious, her feet grow cleats that dig into the ground.

Natasha hops off Chen's shoulder and prepares herself in full earnest for the pull. She waves her tail between the chain's links for a secure hold, and digs into the ground with her razor-sharp claws so that her toes are fully inside the ground.

The judge waits...and then drops his hand, indicating the start.

The two of them have an easier time than the prior team did initially...pulling the tank a full 11m at the outset.

Chen grins as the tank slips on a strip of turf torn up during a previous tug.

Natasha strains for all she's worth!

The tank manages to get more traction...but it moves another 4m toward the goal. Only 5m to go...

The tank tries again...pulling hard, but Chen digs in, holding her ground.

Natasha is briefly pulled clean from the ground, then digs in again.

This time, though...no ground is made. The crowd starts to chant, trying to encourage them to pull harder. "Let's! Go!"

Chen pages: I see you're rolling 12D6. Weren't you rolling 10D6 in the earlier pull-offs?

Artemis cheers and joins the chant.

Sinmore does the only proper thing. The fire giantess starts clapping her hands to the chant and, only on certain beats, stomping one booted foot against the ground.

Thunder claps as well to the chant. Then it occurs to him and he leans over to whisper to Crimson or Cerulean, whichever is closest, well say more likely, "Hey, I think she's related to you, isn't she?" He motions at Chen.

The tank continues to dig into the ground...but also can't make headway.

...and that's exactly as far as it needed to go. The pull just gets the tank over the line...and the crowd erupts again.

Chen is starting to burn stun as she tugs with all her might

The official time: 9 seconds.

Natasha jumps up into the air, doing aerobatic turns and emitting fireworks!

Artemis roars at Chen and Natasha's triumph, pumping a fist in the air as she smiles.

Chen drops the chain and stands panting, hands on hips as she half dpubles over.

"Wooo! Way to go!" cheers Sinmore, clapping hard.

Natasha lands my Chen and checks she's ok.

Chen recovers after a few seconds. "Next time I'll punch it first and carry the scrap over the line." she tells Natasha with a tired grin.

Natasha nods. "I wondered about scratching the vehicle first. Would that be allowed?"

The tank is reset back into place while the next team comes out of the locker area onto the field. It looks like it's likely a team from Starguard.

Chen chuckles, "Not if they noticed."

Natasha nods.

Crimson answers Thunder after she stops cheering, "Yes. We're related."

The Deputy Mayor waits until the crowd dies down before announcing hte next team: Following that mighty display is the team from Starguard Gamma! Victory, Star Girl, and Renegade!" Victory is dressed in his costume, as is Star Girl in her blue skin tight outfit. Renegade looks like he's likely Native American. He's wearing a purple muscle shirt, grey BDU pants, and boots. He's also just a shade taller than Wade is.

"Claws aren't allowed in many games," muses Natasha. "Like Monopoly."

The group smiles and waves to the crowd. Wade also points over toward Chen and gets the crowd to cheer again for the prior team by waving his arms up and down.

Supernal waves! She hasn't seen Star Girl in ages!

Artemis smiles and cheers loudly for his friend. "Ah! So that is the much spoken of Star Girl! How wonderful she was able to join!"

Chen cheers for SGG, equally for Stargirl and Rebegade as for Victory.

Union cheers for Victory

Natasha supplies fireworks for SGG, too.

Cheering, Sinmore resumes her clapclapSTOMP! ClapclapSTOMP!

Renegade takes the anchor spot, and Victory is in in the front, with Star Girl taking the position in the middle. The judge's hand drops...and they start to pull...and the tank is moved only 6m. It's pretty clear that none of the three are in the same weight class as someone like Chen.

Artemis watches Sinmore and smiles, then syncs up with her teammate in making the noise. She looks to Rushmore and makes a head motion for him to join in.

Natasha still doesn't think the rules of Monopoly makes sense. Hoarding money, that's fine. But why can't you use claws to defend it?

The tank tries to pull...but the group managed to hold it and only lose a step or two.

Slowly...the tank gets pulled forward another 7m. They're about two thirds of the way there after 4 seconds.

The tank pulls forward again...but Renegade seems to lose his grip entirely on the chain. The tank surges, pulling both Victory and Star Girl off their feet, and into the torn up dirt and mud. By the time they get their feet under themselves again, the tank has beaten them entirely.

Union says to her teammates, "We beat the StarGuard team?!?"

Both Star Girl and Victory look at each other in amazement, but then look back to Renegade, who fell backward into a sitting position. Renegade looks just as confused. "I have no idea what jsut happened. I thought I had a good grip on it."

Crimson nods, "That's a fine tea. Good people. But not their A-team. No Abigail. No Spirit. No Starlight. No Chen."

Artemis winces at the loss and the slip. She still applauds encouraging. "A good attempt! Surely the next contest will be yours!"

The crowd does cheer, but Wade can't help but wonder about the press after that failure. The recent conversations with his father play back in his head.

Sinmore winces in sympathy for the Starguard team. That doesn't dim her clapping for their worthy attempts to move the (de)constructor tank.

The Deputy Mayor gets up and smiles, "Please give a round of applause for Starguard Gamma! Rest assured, our tank opposition isn't a pushover like the first team made it look like it was!"

The SGG team regroups over on the side to talk about what happened. The conversation is quiet, amidst the crowd noise, and the next announcement. "The next team...is the team of Wild Bull, Mimic, and Brawn, all from the...Chinatown Legion!"

Natasha looks up suddenly. With her popularity in Chinatown, this interests her.

Chen goes over to the SGG team to greet them and commiserate on their bad luck. She makes a point of giving Stargirl an especially warm welcome back to CB.

Mimic is a plump Chinese woman in her 60s. She definitely looks...like she's out of place. Wild Bull looks like he's in his mid-20's and is covered in defined muscles. Brawn has a build like Titan's. Tall, and muscular. It looks like the two men are goign to carry things...until Mimic activates her power, and copies Wild Bull, turning into a copy of the stronger man.

Star Girl smiles and gives Chen a hug, "It's good to see you again! How have you been?"

Crimson stares, "Oh my... I think the tank driver's in for a rough ride."

There's wild cheering from a woman in the crowd. The one with the baby and the chainmail bikini.

Chen smiles, "Pretty good. How about you. When are you coming back permanently?" she asks Stargirl.

Sure enough...the tank driver IS in for a rough ride. The three powerful men pull...and it's over. In a second. Tying for first place! The tank is nearly pulled off the ground entirely as it's pulled back 21m in total!

Natasha gives Stargirl a greeting wave.

Star Girl smiles. "I...I'm not sure yet. We'll have to see." Her attention turns to the pull by the Chinatown metas and she starts to clap. "Wow."

Natasha gives the Chinatown metas fireworks, too.

Wild Bull grins and goes over to the stands to where Kihzra is waiting and gives her a kiss.

Supernal goes over to say hi to Stargirl too. "I wondered what happened to you!"

Artemis cheers for the Chinatown metas!

Supernal is glad it's a sunny day: she's been sunbathing to get her strength up!

Supernal says, "So, I guess I'm anchor?"

"Not my -best- event, but I'm not weak." offers Abigail as she strides towards the tug-of-war setup. She shrugs and glances to Supernal, "Up to you guys. I'm here to assist however I can."

The tracked army vehicle is brought out for the team of Supernale, Abigail, and Hotfoot to pull against. Again, the Questonite chain is set up between. Teh chain is less likely to break than the tank is.

Supernal says, "I imagine I'm the strongest!"

Supernal takes up the anchor position.

"I'm not usually one to use brute force. I mean I can lift cars but if you think you are, the odds are you're right."

The tank struggles mightily against the heroes, but it's pulled a good 11m. Over halfway to the line.

The tank continues to try to pull, churning up dirt...but no ground is made.

While the anchor does her job, Abigail and Hotfoot give it all they have too. With Hotfoot the closest to the tank and Abby in the middle. Abby digs her feet into the ground and gives it her all, her arms shaking from the strain as she works.

That's enough...the tank is pulled another 14m, and across the line...tying the team for third place, with the Nova Team.

...with a time of 4 seconds.

An exultant smile on her face, Abigail drops the chain as the victory is declared, and she reaches hands out to clasp with her teammates, "Well done everyone. Winning is less important when it is for charity."

Supernal says, "Of course - it's all about the taking part!"

Hotfoot says, "Which part is that?"

This doesn't stop Supernal waving to the crowd and hoisting the tank overhead, to the alarm of its driver, during the cheering.

The crowd erupts again...and then the Deputy Mayor announces one more team, "This might be the last team for today...The Pride!" Three more Chinese men come out of the locker room. Steamroller, Devil, and Shade. They all look like they're in their early 20s, and look strong, but in a wiry way. Steamroller is the largest of the three, but they look more like martial artists than bruisers.

This pull...shows it. The Pride are unable to move the tank at all initially. And slowly...very slowly...it pulls the team back so they lose ground. It takes several seconds, but they also end up in the 'Did Not Finish' column.

Chen says "Oh s**t. This is not good."

Natasha tilts her head. She's not so familiar with with this group.

Artemis claps anyways despite the Did Not Finish. "A noble attempt."

Natasha says, "Why is it not good?"

The standings are updated on the stadium display: 1st place: AIB and Chinatown Legion: (1 second). 3rd: Nova Team and Team Energized (4 seconds) 5th: Champions of Liberty (6 seconds) 6th: Natasha and Chen (9 seconds) DNF: The Pride and SGG

Sinmore claps for each team as their standings are announced. "It's been a great competition so far!"

Chen points to the Chinatown team, "Tim Lee." The to the martial artist team, "Pride."

Natasha nods.

Mimic changes back to her normal plump form. She then smiles and waves to Steamroller, who in turn looks...angry.

Artemis nods and grins at Sinmore. "Indeed it has! I think I should go encourage a friend." She pats Sinmore on the shoulder and walks over to the Starguard gathering. She grins at Victory. "A worthy attempt, Friend Victory. It pleases me that you were able to be joined by your Lady Love," she says, looking to Star Girl with a happy smile. "Greetings! I have heard much about you. It's a pleasure to have the chance to finally meet you."

Star Girl smiles and offers to shakes Artemis's hand. "I hope it was all good things he said?" She gives Wade a smile, but turns back to Artemis, "He speaks very highly of you too. It's nice to finally meet you."

Star Girl is a blonde-haired crimefighter, wearing a blueish-black body suit. She stands about 5' 5" tall with a slender and athletic build. Her uniform bears a white eight-pointed starburst on her chest, and the icon is echoed on her back, and on the backs of her gloved hands. The uniform is seamless and doesn't offer any hints to how is was constructed. She wears a mask that covers her eyes, ears, and neck, but leaves her mouth and scalp uncovered, allowing for her shoulder length blonde hair. The eyelets white, opaque, and very expressive.

The Coliseum was always impressively large, but the renovated stadium is breathtaking. It stretches in a vast oval, with the narrow ends climbing to a greater height, giving the impression of a great ship; from this "bow" and "stern" lights shine down upon the arena. Large screens relay any action too remote to see directly.

Stone "Wall" Jackson(#2918TOn)

A man dressed in nice slacks and a silk button down shirt, but...he's 7 feet tall, and his skin has a rocky texture.

Grizzly(#2656TOn)

A bear...or more likely a werebear. It's upright, and holding a light machine gun with both hands. (Paws?)

Artemis shakes Star Girl's hand, making sure not to use her superstrength. "Wonderful things. He does pine for you whilst you are away," she chuckles warmly. She looks a little surprised that he's spoken of her. "Hah! Are you sure he has not complained at how vexing I am? I've caused naught but trouble for Starguard."

Star Girl smiles, "Well...he has complained a little, to be fair." Wade looks a little sheepish at that.

Renegade still looks unhappy with himself. He's remaining pretty quiet for the time being.

The Deputy Mayor announces, "We'll have a couple more pulls in the next few days, but at the moment, that's where our standings are! Next week, the first Individual event! We'll start with Accuracy, so we don't just have two muscle-fests back to back!"

Artemis laughs merrily, not surprised at all. "Most understandable." She looks to Renegade and says encouraging, "A strike of bad fortune, Friend. The contest is not yet over! I'm sure you and Starguard will rise to the next occasion!"

Renegade nods. "Umm...thanks. I hope so. We'll see. I just wish I could explain it. I shouldn't have lost my grip with these gloves on." He's wearing weight lifting gloves designed for just this kind of thing. "It's just...weird."

Artemis holds out a hand, palm up. "May I see? Perhaps they are worn smooth from overuse."

Natasha hops over and has a sniff of the gloves. Maybe they were tampered with?

Sinmore blames Renegade's misfortune on interference by the kingdom of Greater Molassissippi. It's only logical.

Renegade holds out his hand. The gloves are worn from some use, but they have a leather palm which is still evident. If he lost his grip, it might be just because he...let go? It doesn't looks like there are marks to indicate the chain got pulled through.

Rangel enters from North of Colonial Bay.

Artemis runs her fingers over the leather padding. "Hmm. Still in good condition." She runs a nail over them. "Enough friction. Perhaps the chain was slick from the grounds? Or just poor luck, my friend."

Renegade nods, "It's possible, I guess. I have to assume that's the case." He says to Star Girl and Victory, "Again, sorry. I know you were counting on me as the anchor."