Dr Archeville

When Mona had first approached Archeville to pat him on the shoulder, his fists were clenched and teeth were gritted, and he was staring down the hole in the courtyard. "Should have kept them separate... need backup power sources und better surge protectors for de nullifier cells..." At her touch, he seemed to relax some. He looked up to her, "I would not dink someone of your... stature vould get dat. Several of mein haff been interrupted, but I do not look all dat imposing." He glanced back at the hole again, "from here, probably after von of mein experimental vehicles, or at least data on sem if not an actual prototype. Vhat I am more concerned about, dough," he looked up to the third and fourth floors of the castle, "is vhat Binder vas able to get from de main laboratories. He may not haff gotten anyding, if he vas not able to bypass de security, but he alvays plans dese dings months in advance. But until power is restored und I can check de logs, I vill not know vhat he took, und even dat may not vork if de surges Thunderbolt sent corrupted de hard drives." He let out a heavy sigh, and hung his head. "Diese is not how I envisioned de evening going..." he mumbled.

Dagnabbit... Dead Head 'ducked' by bending backward, far more than any one with a solid and unbroken skeleton should be able to. Luckily for him snapping his spine was a snap! As he bent he reached back to undo the fastener on his shovel holster, letting it slide out into his hand. "Right, if'n that's how it's gonna be," he called out as he righted himself back up, and charged towards the ghoul, "then I'll just have t'put... you... down!" He'd intended to make a great downward swing at the thing's legs, to slow it and maybe get it to fall and bring its head down to a reachable level. But the thing spun away at the last second, leaving Dead Head's shovel biting concrete! Dang, 'e's quicker'n I thought!

Now that Miss A was closer, she could see that the two assistants weren't just "going commando," they'd been neutered! She also saw fine stitching on the two assistants legs -- it appeared they'd both received full leg transplants! "Admiring my handiwork, eh? They are crude, yes, but a solid first step towards total reanimation!" "Man, that's just wrong! Bad enough ya rob from the' Dead, ya gotta mangle the livin', too?" "Bah!," the scientist balked, still face-down in the gravedirt, "what would you know of science? Or progress?"

Dead Head slid a bit closer to the heroine. "I 'preciate th' offer, Miss," he whispered, "but I ain't too keen on wearin' another man's clothes. I still ain't comfortable wearin' 'Venger's stuff, an' I've known him fer months! 'Sides, just cuz they ain't treatin' the Dead with no dignity don't mean we gotta do the same to them." The two minions had dutifully removed their pants, after pausing to look at Nekropoliz. The scientist himself muttered something about getting Miss Americana's pants off, while undoing his own. "Hunh, he got his minions goin' Commando."

"Premakes" The Avengers (1952)

Fluffy bits Why is Powerhouse's costume full of spikes jabbing in at his neck, wrists,waist, and ankles? There's no mention anywhere in his background for why he made his costume to do that. Also, how are they able to bury into his skin, given his Impervious Toughness? I see one of the Seven Greeks is named Omega. That's... a touch problematic. Omega is the name of the setting's Darkseid/Thanos-like Big Bad, so there'd be a lot of baggage associated with the Greek letter. Omega Child/Child of Omega would also be a very loaded term. Gamma is also being used by another supervillain, and there is the Alpha-Centurion (an evil clone of Centurion made by Omega [which, to the Typical Man On The Street, would be one of the vilest things ever]). Who is GenetiCorp? Why are they making super-soldiers? Who are The Seven Greeks, why are they serving this organization and allowing themselves to be used as genetic donors, and not, say, being superheroes (or supervillains on their own)? Why chain the disobedient Powerhouse to a wall for years -- do they not have power nullifiers? Crunch Adds up. Grapple seems off. With his powers, it should be +20 -- +5 melee, +15 Str/Enhanced Str. Unless he's supposed to have Super-Strength 9 somewhere... Adds up. Adds up, but that seems a bit spares for having been raised in a military-style camp. Why no Knowledge (History or Tactics), or Survival? I count 11 feats, not 10. Did you mean to give him some Super-Strength? This appears off by 21 points. That'd get Super-Str 9 with 3 Power Feats. Something like: Super-Strength 9 (superhuman strength; effective Str 85, heavy load of 6,400 tons; PFs: Bracing, Groundstrike, Shockwave) [21PP] Be aware that Immunity to Fatigue effects won't protect you form the Fatigue incurred by Extra Effort. Also be aware of the times required for Leaping. Cost is correct, but why does he have this Weakness? There's nothing in his fluff touching on it. Is it something GeneticCorp put in him to make him more tractable? Something one of his gene-donors has?

"Lemme see here," he replied as he began poking a finger into the already-closing puncture wounds. Curiously, the few drips of clotted blood that were force out of the wounds seeped back up into him, as if his injuries were not so much healing at an accelerated rate as they were reversing themselves! "Brain... eyeballs... lungs... heart... spleen.. liver... stomach... gallbladder... pancreas... large intestine... kidneys... small intestine... bladder... weddin' tackle... yup, all there!" In moments the wounds were completely healed over, and he looked like any other... well, unwrapped mummy was the closest thing Gina could think of to compare him to. He looked down at his clothing, which did not repair itself, and kicked the ground. "Dangit, I just got these pants patched up, too!"

"A fine idea; that will give Efthimiadis more time to review or findings. Though I had not planned on using the teleporter; too much risk, not knowing what is in the little guy. I believe a simple stretcher would be the best bet; I can use my Screwdriver to create a hard light construct to carry him, and my flight systems are stable enough to not jostle him too much." He turned to Rift, a grin spreading across his face. "Lead the way, lad! We have mysteries to solve and a life to save!"

As Miss A went to the pit, she heard the mad scientist -- who was probably not a doctor -- mutter something about getting her on her back and with her legs up. The sight in the pit was most unpleasant. It had been lined with long sharpened sticks all along the bottom, which Dead Head was impaled on in several places. Enough to kill a man many times over, in fact. Yet he seemed no worse for wear, and in no pain, though he had fallen face down so it was impossible to tell what sort of face he was making. Fortunately, the hole it was not terribly deep, only a yard or so. "Pleased ta meetcha, Miss! Uh. I tihnk it'll work best if'n ya work my shoulders an' arms free, then I can push the rest'a meself up." But why do that when she could just lift him up like a doll? So she did, to his surprise. "Dang, girl, you don't mess around, do ya?" Seeing him from the front was much worse, because now she could see inside him.

"No!" the mad scientist shrieked. "Quickly, my minions -- back to my... laboratory... which is on the other side of the... argh! Curses!" He shook his fist at the heavens, and the two assistants mimicked him. "You have me now, my pretty, but this is not the last you shall hear of..." He paused, and actually posed for the heroine. Feet apart, left hand with staff held out, right hand curled into a clutching gesture and held before his face. The staff flashed with an impressive (but not blinding) light when next he spoke. "Doctor Nekropoliz!" "Hey, what's goin' on up there?," Dead Head called from the pit. "Fulcrum, izzat you? Mind helpin' me outta here?"

Yeah, they can't beat that; they all skedaddle.

Wherein Dead Head & Miss Americana meet. He'll probably wind up on a table in her lab; he's remarkably okay with that.

Date: November [late], 2010. Early evening, about an hour after sunset. In light of the previous month's events, necromancer and cultist activity in Freedom City had taken a large dip, but it had not gone away entirely. A handful of undead monsters still lurked here and there, and a few cultists were still active, either trying to take advantage of the sudden void or working fervently to bring back lost associates and minions. And there was never any end to graverobbers. Yes, Dead Head's particular niche was still a viable one. Dead Head was in a small cemetery in Hanover, tracking down leads on a particularly worrisome graverobber. He was grad student, attempting to do the Frankenstein thing and reanimate a patchwork man made from several corpses. He oversaw the work of two assistants -- undergrads he had coerced into working with him via selective brain surgery -- as they hefted a fresh coffin up out of the cold ground, illuminating the work area with the electric blue light coming off the top end of the large metal staff he carried. "Y'all best put the feller right back where ya found 'im, an' be sure t'tuck 'im in real tight," a voice called out. "Ah, it's you!," the would-be resurrectionist hissed. "I had wondered how long it would take the city's self-appointed 'Guardian of the Dead' to show!" The two assistants looked up and around, trying to find the hero's hiding spot. "So y'all know me. Good -- then y'all know I don't like what yer doin', and you are gonna stop, one way or the other." "I'll stop when I am done! My work is far too important to be stopped by some deluded metahuman freak who thinks he's some sort of 'super-zombie'! I shall make an army of the un-dead, and with it I shall rule the world! Muah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!!!" Dead Head stepped out from between two large headstones, shovel at the ready. "That ain't gonna happWHOA!" "Ha! You think you can catch me that easily? I knew the most likely paths you would use to get to me, and had my minions dig very deep pits there! Pits filled with spikes! But I guess I do not need to tell you that, now, do I? Nyah hah hah hah hah hah hah hah!!!" "Well, this is just embarassin'...." Dead Head grumbled. Even with his regenerative powers, Dead Head could use some help -- before he could even get out of the pit, he'd need to extricate himself from the spikes. Fortunately, help did show up, in the form of Miss Americana, who at that moment just happened to be passing by overhead...

Upon seeing the portal, Archeville began to reach out, and his mouth began to open. He suddenly closed his mouth and lowered his hand, and finished gathering his things. "Yes, well, if you change your mind, you know how to reach me. Good evening, all." And with that, he walked out the door, taking to the air once he was out of the house and flew back to his home in Hanover.

You're still listing his powers are being drained. Did you want that, too, or just his Wisdom?

Move Action: Draw Shovel Standard Action: KABONG! Attack w/ Shovel; DC 24 Toughness save if it hits (1d20+11=18)

... yer just lazy and don't wanna re-write your IC post, ain'tcha? ;)

Preliminary look-over, his Weakness seems... off. "Intense Magnetic Field" would fall under Uncommon. But Minor is "-1 cumulative penalty to [skill] checks, attack, or defense bonus." Which doesn't seem to match what you described. "Powerhouse's powers and general brain waves drop significantly when in areas of high magnetic frequency" sounds more like Power Loss and a moderate Weakness (Int or Wis drain).

Might have Dok poke his head in. Whenabouts is this taking place? After this thread? And did she drop by in the evening, afternoon, early morning, what? (Haz plans, some of which are time-sensitive.)

That hits, though! DH does not have Uncanny Dodge!

Dead Head's initiative (1d20+2=16)

"I believe a coilgun like dat vould not be allowed, unless De Lab had some military contracts," Archeville replied, "und I do not believe dat vas part of de plan for his facility. For defense purposes, dough, you could easily-" He paused at the newcomer's arrival, and waved him in, "ah, hello, Herr Vespin! Alvays good to see another face! Please, grab someding to eat," he nodded towards the brunch items still offered at the tables in the back, "before taking a seat. Your arrival meshes well mit de next subject I vished to bring up..." He paused and looked over the other Brainiacs, "assuming, of course, you all vould like to change topics."

Archeville's confused look shifted slightly to a hurt one when Phantom mentioned "the dissonance you existence generally causes me"... ... but he said nothing. "Well..." the Doktor eventually said, shaking off to a more neutral expression, "if I am cleared to go, and since I am done with Jack, Junior, I have the feeling it would be best if I just collected my things and left." He bent down and began collecting his instruments and returning them to his little black bag, "do not want to risk me getting snared by another one of your... books, I am sure. Though I will pay for the broken window and any damaged furniture, and the medical bills of anyone injured by those things."

Just to be clear: Grim's your character, so whatever Dok's studies find is up to you. I've been having him find nothing on his scans b/c he's scanning for Metahuman/Mutant stuff, but those wouldn't show anything because her descriptors are all "supernatural" and "magic" and such. Like how "Detect Mutant Powers" would detect zilch in Captain Marvel (the DC one), and "Detect Magical Abilities" would get zip on (most of) the X-Men, and neither scan would pick up the abilities of Superman (since his powers aren't magic and aren't the result of altered human genetics, his abilities are inherent/natural to his species). IMO, he could pick up what she's doing, and maybe part of how she does it (scanning areas of her brain to determine which parts are most active when using certain powers, indicating which powers are triggered by conscious thought, how much of her own memory is accessed when doing so, which ones are reflex, etc., or just how pervasive her body changes when she morphs, or how she is able to go without food or water or air), but not all of the mechanisms. I will, of course, be happy to provide any technobabble ;)

Archeville stood back and studied the creature while Miss Americana did her preliminary checks. "I will need to make some calls," he eventually said, "as most of the experts in kaiju biology are not even on this continent." "There is a veterinarian at ArcheTech, though, Dr. Efthimiadis," he continued as he pulled out and began reconfiguring his Electromagnetic Screwdriver. "Her specialty is internal medicine and soft tissue surgery, so we should be able to do some work on the trauma. Focus on stabilizing it first, make sure it is not a danger to itself or us." He turned slightly to Rift, "One of us should go to where you found it, too, make sure you did not miss any pieces, or if there are any clues as to what attacked it. Where did you say you found it? An alley?" He waved his Screwdriver over the creature, taking detailed x-ray and MRI scans of it, then sent the results to ArcheTech, flagged for Dr. Efthimiadis' attention. "I wonder if the damage to the cranial cap is responsible for the aggressive behavior. If so, this may not have been made for a war-form... but there would still be the question of 'why' and 'who'."