Dr Archeville

Whether it was precognition, common sense, or just good timing, Scarab was quite right: as soon as she'd finished talking, everyone could hear the sirens of a police cruiser, and soon they saw the flashing lights. Tom's eyes went slightly wider with fear. Danny remained unchanged. The cruiser stopped in front of the Dickson's house, and the young officer within practically hopped out. He was a slim man with sharp features, tousled brown hair, and a perpetual grin; his badge identified him as Officer Grigori. "Um... someone reported a big disturbance. Everyone okay?"

Archeville was intently studying the ragtag group, "can you get us a bit closer? I vould like a better look at dose... dings on de men's heads. I am also going to vant to go dere," he pointed to the apparent centerpiece of his counterpart's army, "und learn more about vhat is going on here. Und, if ve are lucky, ve can find more answers to our other qvestions -- if mein doppelganger is fielding a group dis size, ragtag as it is, he should have some monitoring und communications equipment vhich ve can use."

... yet.

Phantom realizes three things about these tears. The first is that there's no trace of any magical radiation. Secondly, the tears are all completely random. Almost every single one leads to a different dimension. Lastly, and mercifully, most of the tears seem to be closing on their own, and none appear, at this time, to be growing larger.

The OOC thread for Divine and Angel's first meeting/patrol in Midtown. Wackiness will ensue. (And I am open to suggestions for changing the name of the thread.)

Date: July 2nd, 2009 (a Thursday). Evening, around 9:00pm It's about 75 degrees out, clear skies, ~10 mph WSW winds The sun set about half an hour ago; Moon is waxing gibbous, 80% visible. The central area of Freedom City, Midtown was by the monorail lines, Liberty Park, and City Center. Among other things, it is the largest downtown residential area and features a number of high-rise apartment buildings and condominiums. Midtown is also home to shopping with the massive Millennium Mall and numerous other stores. There are a number of fast-food restaurants as well as more upscale establishments, small bistros and the restaurants of the fine hotels in the area. One of the most popular eateries in Midtown is the original Champion’s franchise, located next door to the Super Museum. On the spiritual side, Midtown has a number of churches, including St. George’s Cathedral, located on 52nd Avenue across from Liberty Park. That avenue features expensive townhouses and private clubs, such as the Cape and Cowl Club and the Midnight Society. Midtown is also the location of the Goodman Building, the home and headquarters of the world-famous Atom Family. But none of that was important at the moment. What was important was Hot Licks, one of the most popular jazz bars in the entire city. Fans says it's cozy, detractors say it's cramped, but all agree that it is the place to be in Freedom for live jazz acts. And what an act they had tonight! Performing live was the Soul Stampede, a jazz vocal group which had grown popular performing in some of the Freedom’s bars and clubs. They’d be notable for the sweet and mellow voice of their lead singer Patti DuMont alone... but the three singers and four musicians all have incredible skills at improvisation, and one never knows what will happen at a Stampede show. It was here, in this 1900s style house-turned-jazz bar, that two of Freedom's most notable residents could be found, though they were not yet aware of each others presence. Angel Marks, the wealthy and attractive shipping heiress who'd begun to make a name for herself by fighting crime, was in the middle of the audience, enjoying the music but wishing it had a better beat she could dance to. Moira Morley, the super-strong, super-tough, and super-beautiful demigoddess (in her own words) was trying not to act like she did at her own bar and tell the bartender how to do his job... but it was difficult. Especially since the bartenders -- and several other people at the bar -- were so eager to listen to anything she said.

As Archeville had become engrossed in noting some needed or preferred adjustments to his Belt, he was mostly unaware that the fourth part of the test had begun. Mostly , but not completely. "Vas ist-?!" A large metal block was rapidly approaching him, shaped vaguely like a gorilla... or a football quarterback. It slammed into him, but a split second before it did, Archeville managed to switch his force field and gavitic anchor (immovability) on. The metal gorilla was now wrapped around him, the same way a cheap car would wrap around a telephone pole after a sudden impact. Archeville himself seemed unharmed, though a bit shocked. "Sorry, Doktor!" Dr. Brown called out as she rushed over, "I could swear you had heard me announcing the final part of the test!" "Dat is..." he began as he stepped back from the warped metal, "dat is alright, Doktor Brown, I should haff been paying closer attention. Still," he paused, then smiled, "it vas an adequate test, ja?"

Archeville looked to another section of the obstacle course, one filed with assorted gun turrets in the walls. "Ah, I believe dat is de perfect place to test mein force field." He flew over, activating his field as he want. As the field sprang up around him, he appeared to glow with a soft blue light... a light which the gun placements suddenly turned and focused on. Many energy beams slammed into him once he crossed the line marking off the testing area. The first several caught him off-guard, causing him to spin and bump into the walls. "WHOA!!!" He soon righted himself, and set down onto the floor. More energy beams trained on him, and his field flickered a bit, but it held up to the barrage. After a moment the beams slowly cut off, one by one, until he was no longer in danger.

Initiative for the new bad guys?

Archeville's attention turned to another section of the transforming obstacle course, containing what appeared to be several large (as in "could contain a human") transparent bowls, some on the floor, some suspended open side down from the ceiling, and some set into the walls. Dr. Brown noticed he was eying that section. "You can use that to test your teleportation function; the 'bowls' close down to form airtight hollow spheres, and they can move about like a shell game." He nodded, "ahh... ja, dat vill do qvite nicely." Again he was off, and as he approached the large bowls began to twitch and move towards their mates on the opposite side to form the airtight spheres Dr. Brown described. He hopped into one as it was closing, looking around to see where the other spheres were, then activated his teleport function. A blue-gray swirl appeared in the air in front of the spheres -- which were slowly moving around the room -- and out of it popped Archeville. "Ah, I did not expect dem to move once dey closed. Right, let us try dat again." Another blue-gray swirl swallowed him up as he teleported into another transparent sphere. And from there to another, then another, then another, and then another. And then he 'ported back to Dr. Brown's side.

Archeville watched as part of the room transformed into an obstacle course. He paid special attention to the suspended rings coming down from the ceiling and out from the walls. He hovered a few inches up, "mein belt's flight capabilities is de simplest functions, so let us test dat out first." Off he went, through and around various suspended rings, weaving in and out of a line of pillars, and executing barrel rolls and loop-de-loops. Halfway though, he'd begun cackling, as his mood shifted from "semi-serious scientist" to "guy having fun." He eventually made his way back to Dr. Brown, landing like a gymnast (feet together, arms raised in a Y), then bowed to her.

Unarchived/Unlocked per player request.

Archeville had been listening in on the radio and tv signals with his own gadget, and was rather surprised to her his name. "Ja, Herr Star, please take us down! I... I must see for meinself."

Vulture/Tom spills; when Shark finally awakens, he spills as well... though in a somewhat different way. The first bit of info the heroes learn is that the name Vulture had spat out -- Daniel Levinson -- was Shark's name, not Fox's; clearly Tom looked down on him. Fox is Adam Mears, a native of Hanover, and obviously the center of Tom's sycophantic obsessions. All three learned their skills mainly via self-teaching (via books stolen from assorted shoppes and private collectors), though Vulture admitted to having received some early instruction from his brother, who was also a skilled summoner. Danny's magic focused on illusions and mind tricks, which Tom looked down on as being barely a step above stage magic. Fox/Adam is actually a tech-head, with a focus on psionic technologies (like his Cerebral Dampener), but knew enough about magic to incorporate some of it into his tech and how to help coordinate Tom and Danny. They'd been plotting to become SUPERVILLAINS for many months (because supervillains are so cool), but just needed one good break to get started. When they heard of the murder here, they took it as their que, and were going to start by setting up a protection racket in the "obviously unsafe" neighborhood. They didn't commit it, they're just taking advantage of it. Shark/Danny answers all questions he's asked in a clipped monotone. He confirms everything Vulture/Tom said, but while Tom had a subtle undertone of "Fox will get me out of this" hope to his voice, Danny's voice rang hollow, the voice of utter despair.

"You vould do dis to me now, vouldn't you?," he muttered as he searched the room for any equipment he could use. There was plenty for him to use -- White Knight had ordered the trio of guards here to drop their weapons, including their tasers, and there were more in the lockers. It was a simple matter for him to wire the devices to discharge all their energy into one massive pulse, though getting the amperage up to the necessary levels was slightly harder. Fortunately for Dryad, Archeville was a super-genius. "Und now, for de moment of truth..." he whispered. Then, he cackled madly.

"Thank you very much, kind sir," Jos continued babbling as he picked up the phone. "I had heard so much about American hospitality, and I am glad to to see that the stories my university roommate told me are true. I think you would like him, he was a large man like you. I will never forget the first time we met; he was in a band, on electric guitar, and his very first words to me were-" Suddenly, the slender, narrow-faced, mousy-haired man in his mid-30s was not there, instead replaced by a hulking, bat-winged, red-scaled demon. Who had a ball of dark fire in his taloned hands, which was quickly growing. "BOOM!" The hellfireball was thrown (accompanied by the demon actually roaring "boom"), and suddenly the guard was no longer there.

I'm not sure that works, since about the only time a power check would be needed for those powers is if they were being Nullified or countered. (And Force Field directly adds to Toughness, and Toughness/saves is usually its own part of these Tests.) But I'll roll with it. Part 1 -- DC 10 (Flight 5) 18, 18, 8 -- got it on the first try. Part 2 -- DC 15 (Teleport 6) 14, 21, 25 -- missed the first time, got it on the second. Part 3 -- DC 20 (Force Field 10) 13, 15, 21 -- failed the first two, just made it on the third. Part 4 -- DC 25 (Immovability 12) 20, 21, 17 -- failures all I've used 1 HP, still have 2 left. I'll use one to re-roll. Natural 20, for a 32!

This seems a decent place to stop. Shall I close it and you can start up in another thread?

"As I said," he replied as he followed them in, "it vas an odd situation. Disturbing, too, as it indicates dat he does haff a brain, even if he chooses not to use it."

Playing her cards close to her chest, I see. Just as well -- don't want it to be over too soon. Terhune nodded as he sipped his tea, "I can certainly appreciate a degree of privacy, Madame, though I will of course need to know something about the items you offer. Items of... dubious provenance could cause me more trouble than they're worth."

Closer to like what Rogue does? Yeah, that'd be fine.

And at long last there is a post. The directions I had you all coming from are assuming you're coming more or less from your home.

Arrowhawk & Malice They remain unconscious. Ace Danger Approaching from the northwest, Ace danger puts in a call to the governor, talks to a nearby beat cop, then began gathering survivors. The first two houses he ran to were empty, but the third had an elderly couple who had been trying to gather some important things before evacuating. They both seed somewhat confused, though Ace could not tell if it was due to shock from the explosion, Alzheimer's, or both. Avenger Approaching from the south, the first thing to catch Avenger's eye is two houses at the edge of the crater, which are on fire and filled with smoke. Does he rush in to save potential victims from the toxic smoke which won't affect him? Or do vampires fear flame too much? As he began to form a plan of action, he saw Dark Star zip overhead, and Phantom pop onto the scene. Dark Star From the southeast he arrived, and his senses showed him... a lot more than should be present at a 'simple' explosion. Weird pockets of energy/radiation and static were all over the place, providing 'blind spots' here and there. He does detect a few bodies, less than he may have been expecting given the size of the community. The closest are a family of three (mother, father, little daughter) and their dog who had apparently just gotten into a car for a drive, but the car was now blocked by & covered in flaming rubble. However, he also notices that there are four bodies at the very bottom of the crater. Mariner From the southeast Mariner came, roughly following the same path Dark Star had taken. He also sees the flaming rubble-blocked car and family. Phantom Approaching from the west, Phantom was immediately struck by Something Very Wrong about the scene. In addition to the large crater, flaming rubble, and general devastation, she could sense several small dimensional tears all through the area! She also sees Dark Star zipping about. Scarab Coming in from the northwest, Scarab encounters a hot, acrid, obscuring smoke blown towards her by prevailing winds. Casting out her senses before getting too deep into the smoke, she found several people in need of help, though not nearly as many as one might expect for a community this size; it would seem most had already left or had been out the night before and not yet returned. Scarab also sees and hears fellow heroes coming to the rescue; of particular note to her are Ace Danger, Avenger, and Dark Star, all of whom she'd worked with before. Closest to her, she sees a dog barking next to a young man laying unconscious on a bed; the rubble which had obviously crashed through his roof and the blood trickling from his head clearly indicated a concussion. However, she also notices that there are four bodies at the very bottom of the crater, though obstructing rubble & poor lighting makes it impossible to ID two of them, and the other two are so badly mangled (in part from their bodies having apparently slid down the rough crater) they cannot be identified. Sen Also coming in from the northwest, Sen was easily able to find the site because the smoke blown directly towards him. He knew if he kept on the smoke would be thick enough to possibly damage him... but his keen ears also picked up canine cries for help from within.

"You may not, Mister Rogers," the Judge replied coolly, "but the legal system does, until you file for a legal change." "Mr. Prosecutor, you may continue." The Prosecutor was soon finished, and Knievel's Defense Lawyer was allowed to cross-examine.

"moral objectivism" has more than one meaning. What do you mean when you say it? Also, please edit the char format so it matches the board standard (look to most any other character for an example of how we prefer sheets to be formatted).