<strong>Hero Points:</strong>1<strong>Conditions:</strong>None<br/><br/>A jolt of static electricity jumped from Leslie’s finger just as it was about to touch the anvil. A lifetime’s worth of visions flashed before her eyes in an instant. A baby born upon a mountaintop amid a starry sky, held up together by a bearded man with a lightning bolt staff and a woman with a lotus-tipped sceptre. Gold-skinned people scurried about a red-hot cave in an active volcano, bringing all manner of metals, jewels, woodcraft, and other materials to the mountain-born man who was now an adult.  A crowd of celebrating people in a city of Ancient Greece took turns casting urns, coins, and wheat stalks into a giant brazier as the final brick was laid on the temple roof. Centuries later, the temple was now adorned with a Holy Cross, the statues reduced to half-cracked white marble. A woman with a prized painting lit a fire in the ash-filled brazier. She cast her creation into it, only to see it born again in the flames. Soon enough the marble statues were reassembled and repainted to their full glory.<br/><br/>The visions ended, and Leslie found herself in a much fuller white room: toys from her childhood were strewn across the ground. Every memory she had of these objects, from the stuffed bunny with the red ribbon upon its left leg to the glow-in-the-dark marker from her Year 4 art class, perfectly matched their doppelgangers. But there was something else in front of her: a life-sized replica of a section of wall at her old school, bearing that same beautiful canvas of an oceanside beach painted upon it.<br/><br/>There was silence for a moment before Mr. Hawkins pressed the intercom button. “I...that was amazing. Congratulations Leslie!”<br/><br/><hr/><br/>A group of scientists applauded as Leslie entered the room and Mr. Hawkins strode over to hug her.<br/><br/>“I’m so proud of you!” he exclaimed. “How did it feel? More tests will need to be run, but this alone is an extraordinary first step!”<br/><br/>“We cannot be so certain it will last long-term,” another scientist interjected, arms crossed. (https://i.imgur.com/LPSlcEV.jpg) “We should run deprivation periods to see if the powers can subside from lack of contact with the artifact.”<br/><br/>Mr. Hawkins chuckled. “We can arrange that in time, Dr. Durand, but for now let’s see how they work in the field. Leslie, I think we’ve poked and prodded you long enough. Go see your friends in the rec room, I’m sure you’ll all have plenty to discuss!”<br/><br/><hr/><br/><br/><br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Girl Talk</strong></span></span></div><br/>“An anvil?! And visions?! So did you...umm, teleport the wall, or just made a double?”<br/><br/>Zofia was paying attention to Leslie, although given her focus on the empty coffee cup it wouldn’t be amiss to think it was elsewhere. She had on a pair of metal gauntlets and was holding out her hands; eventually the cup turned over on its own and rolled off the table.<br/><br/>“Woah, did you see that?” she squealed. “These things work!”<br/><br/>Harmonia tossed her hair back as she looked up at the ceiling. “I actually knew about this ahead of time. I hope that you’ll forgive me for not saying anything. But it’s true; our parents’ company...can give people superpowers!”<br/><br/>“So what’s yours?” Zofia asked.<br/><br/>“Well, I’m actually the daughter of Eris, a Greek goddess. Mom’s usually up in Olympus, so that’s why I’ve been with my father all this time. I had these abilities all my life, I just...had to keep them under wraps.”<br/><br/>“You shouldn’t be ashamed of something like that! This isn’t North Korea you know! Look at the Freedom League’s Siren, she’s a...well technically she’s possessed by a voodoo goddess, but everyone loves her!”<br/><br/>Harmonia laughed. “Well you may think differently when you meet my Mom, haha. Amalia, how’d things go with you?”<br/><br/>Amalia sat in the corner chair, staring off into space. “Huh? Oh, it was...fine, I guess. Nothing happened.”<br/><br/>Harmonia and Zofia stared at her.<br/><br/>“Really?” Zofia asked. “You sure?”<br/><br/>“Give her some space,” Hua said. “This is a big change for you all.”<br/><br/>“Yeah,” Zofia answered. “Sorry about that. Look on the bright side, Amalia! Maybe it’ll manifest later you know. Like with mine! I uh, I’m a mutant it seems. Nothing cool like Lez or Harmonia’s...”<br/><br/><hr/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 18pt;"><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;"><strong>Stress Testing</strong></span></span><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/gfJj2KB.jpg)</div><br/>Scene Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRs6UURmk4M)<br/><br/>Leslie and her friends were put through several more tests over the next few days. They all took place in another white room, this one larger than the one with the anvil. The tests began as simple courses conjured up by a simulated reality; sometimes Leslie performed the tests individually, sometimes with others. But by the third day, the tests began to take a more combative turn. They were first virtual sparring partners and self-defense training with instructors, but the latest particular test was an outright terrorist attack!<br/><br/>“Doesn’t this seem weird?” Zofia asked the rest of the girls as they remained crouched behind a set of potted plants in a rooftop greenhouse. “Oh hey, Hua, what do you see?”<br/><br/>“Seven men in balaclavas with AK-47s on the floor below,” Hua answered as she snapped the leatherbound tome she was looking into shut. “One of them is 3 meters tall with rocky spikes sticking out of his clothes.”<br/><br/>“The world’s a dangerous place,” Harmonia added. “It’s good to learn self-defense in the event of an alien invasion and other stuff like that.”<br/><br/>Amalia rolled her eyes. “Well they don’t notice us and we got a phone, the answer’s clearly to call the police!”<br/><br/>She took the smartphone out of her pocket. She couldn’t even dial the first digit before the phone jammed and a stony protrusion broke through the greenhouse floor.<br/><br/>“Crap, end simulation, end it!” Amalia shrieked as she went running for cover.<br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: courier;">Treat this as a simple challenge rather than actual combat. Leslie needs to score 3 successes before 3 failures in order to pass, each with DC 15. This can be done via attack rolls, skill checks, and clever use of powers. For powers that don’t correspond to an existing attack/skill/etc check, roll 1d20 + your Power rank to determine success or failure. Here’s a few sample means of resolution. Feel free to come up with your own:</span></strong><br/><br/><strong>Time to Attack!</strong>The best defense is a good offense. This is resolved as a straight attack roll. If you voluntarily ‘power attack’ to gain a penalty, you can treat a success as 2 successes due to your sheer destruction.<br/><br/><strong>Make All the Things:</strong>Barriers, falling anvils and pianos, things for Zofia to fling, and other Hephaestus-granted abilities. This is resolved as a Power check for Forge.<br/><br/><strong>Run For It!</strong>Getting some distance between yourself and the bad guys may be best. Or just to outmaneuver them. This is resolved as Athletics.<br/><br/><strong>Over Here:</strong>Leslie takes a risk and draws enemy fire in order to give her friends an opening. This is resolved as either Acrobatics or a Dodge defense roll.<br/><br/><strong>I’ll Cover You:</strong>Leslie creates defensive barriers around her friends to block the bullets and mutant spikes. This is resolved as a Power check for Protective Aegis.<br/>