Dr Archeville

Archeville had had no trouble in keeping up. When he saw Rift begin to slow, he arched up into a cloud bank, and planned to come down ahead of the teen. "Not bad," Rift heard from behind him. Turning, he saw the Doktor, holding out his techno-wand. "A bit over 65% de speed of sound!" "Now," he nodded towards the guitar, "show me vhat you can really do, ja?"

A short drive into the "Little Mexico" part of West End later, the trio arrived at... what looked to be an abandoned two story house. Its best days were far behind it -- large boxes/small crates lie strewn about an unkempt (and, in places, scorched) lawn, Los Diablos Rojos tags were sprayed on the steps leading up to the small porch, and all the other signs of a gangbanger hangout -- but the open front door and busted windows indicated that it was empty, and possibly had been for some time. No one else was around -- the street was clear, and the other houses either empty or their resident tucked in tight.

Three page preview of the Hero's Handbook, with Aquaman!

Archeville's inhumanly fast mind surveyed the scene, and quickly noticed something rather important: these weren't robots they were up against. They were cyborgs. The Doktor's internal debate was cut short by the sudden appearance of a large Jack of All Blades-shaped dent in the wall. Reflexively, he checked to make sure his force field was still up. "Jack! Are you... hold on!" He began manipulating the controls on his Electromagnetic Screwdriver. The Doktor made one final adjustment, and a near-invisible pulse of electromagnetic energy exploded from the techno-wand. "De cyborgs are insensate," he shouted, "und de cameras are down, so Knievel und Malice should not be able to see us! But Jack is bady vounded!" He looked down at the gadget in his hand (which could heal him, if it wasn't currently creating the sensory obscurement field), to Phalanx (whose body coursed with energy... the all-consuming energy of the Terminus), to Sarah (who had a big sword), to Arrowhawk (who had a fancy bow & arrows), then back to Jack and his extensive injuries. "Hold on, Jack, I should haff just de ding dat can plug dat laser-punctured lung..."

Use 1pp on Doktor Archeville to add Benefit (Freedom League member). Also, his point totals are off -- the line at the top of the sheet and at the bottom don't agree. I'll count things up a bit later, but I know he has at least one free, so I'm comfortable with putting in this request. DONE BY SHAENTHEBRAIN

And now for something completely different: Thalia/Melpomene is the daughter of Dionysus and a mortal woman. Most tales say Dionysus is the son of Zeus and Semele. (Meaning, among other things, that Ares & Dionysus are half-brothers.) Semele was the daughter of Cadmus (a Phoenician prince) and Harmonia (goddess of harmony and concord, the counterpart of Eris, goddess of strife & discord). Harmonia is the daughter of either A) Ares & Aphrodite, or Hephaestus & Aphrodite. Divine is the daughter of Ares & Aphrodite. That's pretty straightforward. Ares is the son of Zeus & Hera. Also straightforward. (Except for the whole "Zeus and Hera are brother and sister" bit.) Aphrodite is... the "daughter" of Uranus (Zeus' father) and the sea. (Cronus, Uranus' father, cut off Cronus' genitals and threw them into the sea; Aphrodite emerged from the foam that washed ashore.) (Aphrodite is Ares' aunt! Divine's grandfather is also her half-uncle!) Thalia/Melpomene's grandfather (Zeus) is also Divine's grandfather/half-uncle. Which'd make them... first cousins, twice removed. But, Thalia/Melpomene's father's mother's mother (Harmonia) is Divine's sister (or half-sister). Which'd make Divine Thalia/Melpomene's great-grandaunt. The Greek Gods don't have a Family Tree, they have a Family Gordian Knot!

"Fire a waring shot, across her nose." *BLAM* "I said across her nose, not up it!"

I'm surprised you fell out of 24-hour response rounds in the first place. I'm fine with you resuming that practice. Note: Doc's Tentacle-Brain is still set on Enhanced Wisdom, which I had last set it to in this post. Free Action: Take 20 on a Notice check (thanks to Mental Quickness), getting a 37, realizing that these "bots" are really cyborgs. Free Action: (Re)Activate Force Field. Standard Action: Reconfigure Gadgets Free Action: Extra Effort to SURGE! Full Round Action: Activate Obscure, "targeting" everyone & everything except Doc's fellow heroes (and Captain Knievel, since he doesn't have any sort of technological sensory-enhancing stuff) Unreliable Obscure; 1-10 = no work, 11-20 = works (1d20=13) w00t Free Action: Use HP to nix fatigue from Extra Effort. Should have IC post up within the next two hours.

Do you mean Mind Reading? (Though Control could make this even more Comedy of Errors-y. "Robin, I can't do this on my own... Make me do it!")

"Vhite Knight is down," Archeville said with great relief into the MAX armor's radio, hoping someone was listening in. "Repeat, Daniel Foreman is down." Archeville zipped across the room, alternating between freeing hostages and binding the crooks White Knight had taken out in his rage with restraints in the MAX armor. "Everyvon is alright, ja?" Once he'd secured the prisoners and made sure the hostages were okay, the Doktor zipped out the window which Warden Drummer had been thrown through, down to the ground where he had gently lowered the warden to, and landed next to him. "You may need," he said as he removed the armor's helmet, "to send a search team for Foreman. I blasted him up and out with one of Adam Jury's Winter Wands, but could not get a sufficient view of his arc to determine where he would land. Oh, und...," he flashed a weak smile, "de power dampers should all be back online by now..."

The latest update (which should've come out last Wednesday) has been delayed for two reasons: 1) The 4th of July holiday pushed things back a bit, 2) it hasn't been approved yet by DC, b/c they've been busy with something else Green Ronin sent them that was "quite a bit bigger and more time-consuming. And important." The next update should be another DC character write-up, with notes from the designers. The next few updates will reportedly have more char write-ups, with designer's notes.

in the middle of the Invasion!

Archeville had kept the Search Engine trained on Bombshell while Scarab talked, both so he'd know if anything suddenly happened (say, an attack by a supervillain), and in case Scarab lost track of her and needed her found again. "" he muttered in response to the last words he heard before the disappeared through the portal, "" "" the Doktor said grimly as he stood, and walked away from the Search Engine. ""

psst... Timeline...

Invisible Caste's acting weird, not letting me log in. But, it can still be used. 1d20+7=11

I'm making an executive decision and saying that, yes, for this part of the thread you all can use the planned improvements. Also, the rest of you should get to posting your "Getting to battle stations/locking-and-loading" montages. ;)

Ah, I'd forgotten that (or... never read it in the first place). Maybe write that in somewhere? That aside, :approved:

Do people turned into bee-people gain or lose anything, stats-wise? Can Bee-Keeper control Bee-People the way he does regular bees? And why'd he get so much dumber compared to his PL 8 Silver Age self?

Rift has sonar -- he sends out ultrasonic emissions that bounce off solid surfaces, to build an accurate picture of his surroundings. He's like a bat, man. Though Doc's Belt and Screwdriver (in its current configuration, at least) probably do give off some ultrasonic waves, so your IC post is fine.

No, that's Disintegration. Corrosion is Drain Toughness (Extras: Affects Objects, Linked Damage) [3pp/rank]

Rift's internal 'radar' pinged, alerting him of Archeville's take off. He hovered a good distance away, making sure not to get in the teen's way as he took readings with his techno-wand, but after a minute or so zipped in closer. "Excellent control!," the Doktor shouted over the winds whipping past. "Now, care to show me how fast you can go? Unassisted first, of course!" The Doktor pointed east, towards the open water, where there would be little risk of collision or other damage.

The Pentagon is launching projects BaTMAN and RoBIN to create super-soldiers

"they get back together [X amount of time] later" is fine. But you'll have to tell me what DH found out ;)

"" Archeville said, smirking and shaking his head. "" he looked up and looked her in the eye, "" He glanced at the robot gorilla butler, which was looking at him with its Uncanny Valley eyes (a recent addition, and one that would probably be changed back). "Butleraffe, holen Sie mir ein Eisbock." The robogorilla gave a curt nod, then trundled off. "" the Doktor began as he slowly paced, "" "" "" The robutlerilla returned, with an Eisbock beer in a tall, wide-mouthed glass. He took a gulp; the robot trundled off to attend to other tasks.

Trevor speeds up the streets of Freedom, a bolt of darkness cutting through the night. Dozens of thoughts race through his head, none of them good. None prepare him for what greets him. When he arrives in the neighborhood, before reaching the end of the road where the Hunter Estate lies, Trevor sees signs of other attacks. Several people lay sprawled out on their lawns, against their cars, at their doorways; he could even see a few through windows, sprawled out unconscious on a chair or table. There were no signs of any struggles, though the looks on the faces he saw were ones of pain. The Hunter Estate loomed ahead. There, on the front lawn, were signs of a struggle... and an unconscious form on the ground.