Log:Leap a Tall Building...

Best of the Best 2058 2008/06/30 	 Howl Lightray Lorelei Nexus Sable Sword Dancer Variable 1

Stadium rock blares over the stadium loudspeakers as fans mill about and find their seats. Competing heroes are invited to wait in the tunnel between the lockers and the field.

Howl adjusts his new hat as he comes up the tunnel. "Ok. Feelin' better. We got this. As long as it literally isn't leaping buildings."

Variable, once again in giant form, says, "I was hoping it might be literal leaping of tall buildings. I might do better than most, anway."

Sable arrives at the stadium early and is directed through the bowels of the Coliseum to the now-familiar tunnel entrance. "Hey all, how goes?"

Howl grins. "X, you're in second place. Don't worry about it."

Lightray smiles slightly as he listens to the crowd and the heroes. "Does stepping over count as leaping, Variable?"

Sword Dancer returns from throwing her bag in the locker room. "Why you fink we have to jump over buirrding?"

Lightray nods to Sable and then chuckles. "Fairly well. I am looking to clinch my last place standing."

Variable smiles. "All the better if it does!"

Sable says, "What if I hold onto Varibale really tightly? Will that count?""

Howl offers Lightray a hi-five. "Race you to the bottom old man."

Lightray seems puzzled for a second about the high fiuce, then its as if a lightbulb goes off as he high fives Howl.

Lorelei hasn't emerged from the changing room, changing as she is into yet another costume.

Yusuko hurries to her front row seat accompanied by a young Harrisburg streetgirl. On the way she buys burgers and drinks.

Sable's lips curl into a soft smile as she looks around at the gathered heroes. "Good luck everyone, let's give 'em a great contest."

Vitalis descends from the MagLev station.

The music blaring over the loudspeakers starts fades aways. "Ladies and Gentlemen..." the stadium announcer says, a deep voice booming over the loudspeakers. "Are you ready... for Best of the BEST!"

The crowd cheers.

The loudspeaker man announces, "Here's your host... Syndey Crosheeeeeere!"

"God no." Howl comments, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I might be a tad hungover."

Lorelei at last makes it out of the changing room.

Sword Dancer says, "Was good drink?"

Lightray looks out at the crowd. "Loud aren't they?

Sable winces slightly as the music rises and the loudspeaker blares but she sets her jaw slightly.

The main stage hovers above the playing field. There's a loud thrumming sound that builds in intensity, and Sydney materializes from thin air in position on the stage. She waves to the crowd and shouts, "Hello, Colonial Bay!"

Yusuko and her companion cheer with the rest of the crowd.

Howl shrugs at Sword Dancer. "Don't know about that. Was a lot of drink. But gotta be a good role model. Or whatever."

Sydney says, "Are you ready? Let's bring out the heroes. Ladies and Gentlemen? Here are Colonial Bay's Mightiest!"

The production assistant cues the heroes to take the field.

Sable stops short. "Mightiest? She looks to Variable. "She's talking about you."

Variable says, "But I didn't win the strength contest. That was Wasp."

Lightray flies out onto the field to take his place before the designated building.

"Which is sad that you were all beaten by a little bug. C'mon." Howl comments before striding onto the field.

Variable as usual gets out there early to make more room in the tunnel.

Sable jogs out onto the field, moving to the building that she has been assigned."

Lorelei hangs back and proceeds out turning and waving to the crowd once more.

Sword Dancer tries to be last out. It makes it easier to see where she's supposed to go.

Sydney says, "So we've seen who's the fastest and who's the strongest. What else can we possibly through at our heroes? Today's challenge is called Leap a Tall Building in a single bound, but it's really a challenge to see how sharp our heroes are."

Lightray looks up at the building he is standing in front of.

"Before us, each hero has a structure to climb, with three levels. On each level, there's a challenge..."

The main scoreboard flashes white and then lits up with a clip from the finale of _Rifts_ showing Lorelei and her male star racing down an alien infested street towards a hollywood effect rift. The clip lasts a few seconds, about five, and then the scoreboard returns to normal operation.

Howl hmms, eyeing his building. "God I hope there's a Rubik's cube in there. Followed by one of those giant wall crossword puzzle."

Variable thinks. o O (I'd have preferred leaping...)

Sable gazes up at the edifice in front of her, her lips pursed speculatively before she glances to Howl. "That would make for compelling television."

"The first level has the Man of Mirrors. A stunt man has the key to a safe on the second level. But, we've got a holographic projector that duplicate his image. The heroes will have to decide which of the 8 images is the stunt man. Meanwhile, the stuntman is equipped with a Penalty Ray. It's a wide angle beam. If the hero is hit by the ray, they'll have to spend a moment 'recovering'."

Howl nods to Sable. "Especially if you could go all Gordian Knot on it."

Nexus bamfs into existence near the other contestants. "Sorry I'm late!"

"If the heroes tag the real stuntman, he hands over the key. The heroes are free to continue without the key, but the key makes the second challenge really easy."

Nexus whispers to Lorelei "Did I miss anything I oughta know?"

Lorelei says, "Not really, if you caught that."

"On the second level, there's a safe. The key from the first level opens it easily; otherwise, the heroes might have to resort to brute strength to open it..."

"Inside the safe is a remote control that unlocks the third level. Heroes have to get the remote to continue."

Nexus nods to Lorelei. "Cool... thanks." He looks carefully at see-thru plastic walls of his building and memorizes a location on the second floor.

Sydney says, "The final level is the chessboard. The heroes have to cross the checkered grid of floor tiles to reach the finish line. But as they move, the floor tiles shift into Penalty Tiles. If the hero steps onto a penalty tile. He or she has to go back to the beginning, and then wait for the grid to reset. The Penalty Tiles shift turn on and off, following a pattern. If the hero can figure out the pattern, then crossing the room should be a piece of cake."

As always, there's a referee on hand to answer questions.

Nexus says, "Is the safe big enough to walk into?"

The safe is visible from where the heroes currently stand. It's small, only the size of mini-fridge, and protected by a force field.

Nexus nods and frowns.

The ref continues, "The entire building has to be navigated on foot. No flying or teleporting."

"Well then." Howl comments, rubbing his gloved hands together. "Let's get this thing on the road."

Sable raises her hand.

Variable raises her hand too.

Lightray waits patiently for questions to be asked.

Nexus seems ready.

The ref calls on Sable.

"If you have any questions," the ref says, "Just go ahead and ask." He nods to Lightray and Variable, indicating for them to go ahead.

Variable says, "I take it you actually have to walk on the chessboard floor and not, say, the ceiling?"

Lightray shakes his head. "My question has been answered, ref. Thank you."

The ref says, "No. But if you're standing on the ceiling over an active penalty tile, it counts; you have to go back and wait for the grid to reset."

Nexus hrms, trying to think of an effective strategy. . o O (Even money says the forcefield blocks phasing and stuff like that. Probably not strong enough to brute-force it open. So, key. 8 images... probably all look like they have a gun.) He frowns... multiple opponents aren't his strength, and the "on foot" rule neutralizes his usual advantage. . o O (Hm. This is gonna be tricky.)

Nexus starts stretching his legs out. "Heh... not used to actually running up stairs anymore..."

Nexus thinks. o O (Heh. Maybe I could pick the lock faster than getting the key? Probably not.)

Nexus watches the other contestants carefully. Especially Lorelei.

Lorelei frowns, trying to figure this out. The trouble is she has to *tag* the guy. She could knock him out without know which is the real one, but that does no good!

Nexus says, "So... we're waiting for what, then?"

Howl shrugs at Nexus. "No idea. I'm ready to go."

Variable once again disposes of excess mass under the podium. This time her chosen shape is roughly that of a large dog, though capable of walking on two legs as well.

Nexus looks at Variable, intrigued.

Howl grins at Variable. "Same idea, I see."

Variable bares her teeth, or maybe grins.

The referee blows his whistle. "Ready." He signals Sydney.

Howl moves towards the starting area for his building.

Sydney says, "Heroes... On your marks!"

Lightray gets ready.

Nexus gets ready to move.

Sable's legs flex as she prepares her self on the starting line.

Sword Dancer lines up ready for a running start, as do Lorelei and Variable.

Sydney says, "Set... GO! Whoo!"

Sword Dancer runs into the room and simply starts hitting as many "people" as she can.

Sable races forward, legs pumping furiously.

Sword Dancer's sword passes swiftly through two illusions, then tags a guy who says "Ow!" Amusingly, the illusions not react till the last guy is tagged.

Sable pauses for an instant just inside the doorway before moving forward to stand before one of the men in the room.

Howl moves into the room at a quick but not hurried pace. He doesn't look at any one of the eight stuntmen, much more interested in tasting the smells of the room to try and figure out which one is alive.

Howl reaches out to try and tap the living stuntman. "Hey there, stinky. Gimme the key."

The stuntman shrugs and hands Howl the key.

Variable runs in to the room and tries to identify the real opponent with sight, sound or smell - she's hoping one of those will do the trick.

Variable catches the scent of the real man and pounces on him.

Variable says, "Woof!"

Variable grins toothily at the guy and waits for him to hand over the key.

Lightray moves to the entrances of the room where the Man of Mirrors stands. He spreads his hands wide and lets beams of sunlight strike as as many of the 'men' as possible.

Nexus thinks. o O (Definitely need to bring him along when we go vampire-hunting.)

The stuntman hands Variable her key.

Lorelei just runs into the room, somehow chooses the right guy and runs right up to tag the surprised man. "You're it!"

Beams of sunlight strike five of the men. The sunlight passes through 4 of the figures and impacts on the fifth. LIghtray smiles as he holds out his hand to that figure.

The stuntman frowns as he hands his key over to Lightray.

Nexus partly phases... he's not sure it will help, but it can't hurt... and moves onto the first floor, paying less attention to the gunmen (or, rather, gunimages) than to the floor itself, and hoping to spot the real target (or at least eliminate some fake ones) by scuff-marks or similar patterns he makes on the ground, before tagging someone with his phasepunch.

Nexus grins and tags the real gunman on the shoulder. "Hand it over, leadfoot..."

Lorelei shouts, with her best acting, "Omygod - what's that over there!" pointing in one direction, and then observes which of the men actually looks that way.

Lorelei tags the man while he's still looking the other way. "You're it!"

The man grudginly hands over his key. "Can't believe I fell for that..."

Sable reaches out to touch the guy she stands in front of and holds out her hand for the key.

The stunt man offers his key to Sable.

Sable takes the key and inclines her head. "Thankyou."

Howl hikes up the stairs after retrieving the key, moving as close to the safe as possible.

Sable races up the stairs as soon as she is able and inserts the key in the lock, opens the safe and takes out the remote before making her way up to the third floor.

Sword Dancer, Variable and Lorelei all get the remote controls from their respective safes and proceed to the third level.

Nexus grabs the key, opens the safe, grabs the remote, goes up to the third level.

Howl stops in front of the checkerboard once he's up at the top. He stops, looking behind him and gauging the progress of the others. He decides to wait and study the board before he takes his first step.

Sable comes to halt and examines the chessboard, her lips compress as she studies the patterns on the square.

Sword Dancer too decides to study the board for a while.

Howl prepares to move forward, hoping that he has the pattern correct.

Sword Dancer, seeing Howl make his move, decides she'd best do so too! She steps out onto the board.

Sable nods her head slightly and steps forward onto the board

Howl tries to imagine elevator music as he waits.

Variable doesn't really have a choice but to study the board. She knows that brainwork isn't her forte.

Sable steps forward onto the board.

Lightray thinks he has figured out the pattern so he ventures onto the board. He thinks. o O (This could be embarrassing.)

Lorelei considers studying the board, but then decides just to go for it and give her fans a show. If she does well, then there's one contest she's not last in - if not, well, she probably would do poorly if she wasted time studying the board anyway.

Nexus struggles with his growing impatience upon reaching the third floor.

The board shifts! All of the heroes on their boards seem to have chosen correctly.

Howl doesn't hesitate anymore. He moves forward, trying to move forward now that the others have caught up.

Sable moves out further onto the board

Sword Dancer progresses further on the board.

Variable keeps studying the board. How have the others figured it out so quickly?

Lorelei looks at the changed pattern, takes a deep breath and moves forward to her next square of choice.

Nexus looks around and realizes everyone else is getting ahead of him. Well, except for the alien dog. He doesn't quite understand what's going on yet, but he's used to that. He steps out onto the board.

The board shifts again. All of the heroes seem to have chosen their moves wisely.

Sable steps forward onto the next rank of the board, carefully placing her feet onto a clear tile.

Howl's eyes narrow as he judges the board. He steps forward to his next tile.

Sword Dancer has an air of confidence as she moves on to her next square.

Lightray looks down at the squares again, then steps forward onto a new set. He thinks. o O (Reminds me of the time we had to fight the Chessmen.)//INt Roll, move

Variable decides she can't wait any longer and steps onto the board.

Sable pauses momentarily, her head twitching slightly as she tries to watch the evolution of the patterns

Lorelei holds her breath as she chooses her next square.

Nexus chuckles. "Look before you leap, my interdimensional butt." He steps forward.

The board shifts again. None of the heroes have taken a false step yet.

The board lights set, leaving Sword Dancer, Sable, Howl, Lightray, and Lorelei open paths to the goal.

Sable moves forward as the opportunity appears, quickly covering the remaining distance to the finish line

Sword Dancer runs lightly across the board to the finish.

Lightray runs for the finish, his wings ghosting through solid objects as he moves.

Variable moves hesitantly to the next square.

Lorelei hurries to the finish, then stops and waves to the fans.

Howl edges out Sable for the finish line.

Nexus keeps going. (rolling base, but actually +1, third step)

The board shifts again, opening a straightaway for Nexus to the finish line.

Nexus takes it.

Nexus crosses the finish line!

Sydney says, "You can't keep a good dog down! Reigning champ Howl manages to edge out Sable for the win!

Variable advances once more - almost there....

Variable finally makes the finish line - both relieved and visibly disappointed.

A giant wolf call plays over the stadium loudspeakers in honor of the heat winner.

Sydney comes up to Sable by the finish line. "Sable, you weren't able to win today, but you've been a picture of consistency. How do you feel about your performance today?"

Variable shifts back to human form, and her disappointment is now evident on her face too.

Sable turns to nod to Howl. "Extremely impressive.";'s shoulders lift slightly. "I'm very happy to have performed so well, especially considering the caliber of the opposition. Variable, wasp, and everyone have really shown incredible flexibility and talent."

Lightray goes over to Variable. He says in a supportive tone. "I am certain you will still rank high in the standings, Variable. Even Jesse Owens did not always place first."

Sable's shoulders lift slightly. "I'm very happy to have performed so well, especially considering the caliber of the opposition. Variable, wasp, and everyone have really shown incredible flexibility and talent."

Variable says, "I'll have 7 points. Wasp and Kibin had 8 even before this contest!"

Sydney looks towards the cameras. "So here we are -- just one more day to go folks, before we can crown a new Best of the Best!"

Lightray nods as he continues to wave to the crowds. He says in a quiet voice, "And how long have they been active in comparison to you." He looks at Variable. "Your strengths were not played to as much as theirs in this competition, no?"

Variable says, "I thought I'd do well in this one, but it really had nothing to do with tall buildings at all."

Sword Dancer puts her sword away and looks about.

Sable nods firmly in agreement. "It was very far from being what I expected. I think if I were in Variable's position I would be put out."

Sable looks to Variable. "There is no question that you can leap a building in a single bound while I for instance can't."

Sword Dancer grins. "Should have drinking contest. Is proper charrenge, and can orr do vat."

Lightray smiles slightly. "Yes, I think I would do well in that."

Sable nods slightly. "Actually we should do a drinking and poetry challenge."

Variable too cracks a smile. "That *is* one I should be able to win. Well, the drinking part."

Lorelei says, "DOes the poetry come before the drinking, or vice versa? It makes a difference, I think."

Lightray hmms as he rubs his chin. "I think before, halfway through, and then at the end." He smiles. "That way it will cover all gamut of drunken poetry."

Sable says, "You know before I met you guys I felt kind of special, but now my lack of energy blasts or mind powers or desolidification or flight makes me feel very mundane"

[To Sable] Sword Dancer says, "Is so."

Lightray looks over at Sable. chuckles. "I would be willing to bet you could take half of us in hand=to=handf, Sable."

Sable smiles to Lightray, sadly you're all way too smart to let me that close."

Sword Dancer says, "Is time to go, yes?"

Sable nods to Sword Dancer. "I think we're finished."

Sword Dancer says, "Is good, have competed wiv everyone. Tjasivju."

Sword Dancer heads back to the changing rooms.

Lightray smiles. "Tjasivju, Sword Dancer." He then looks at the others. "Well, I think I will go for a flight. Be well." He then takes off into the sky, his wings beating slowly.

Sable waves a hand to wave after lightray