Dr Archeville

Very sorry for the delay, all. That is my understanding as well, so that's what we'll use. We're now on steps 3 & 4.

Archeville nodded, "ja, it can, but since you haff put dis back up, dere is no need to at de moment." "Und I know dere are dangers -- dat is de entire reason vhy I suggested ve go in cloaked! Und doing research is exactly vhat I am talking about! However, I do not believe mein doppelganger here is vorking mit Odysseus -- vhen I asked about meinself, he said mein counterpart vas not involved in any work mit him. Vhich means mein counterpart could be opposing him... or is dead. Dough, admittedly, dat may haff been a lie." He stroked his chin thoughtfully, then snapped his fingers, "right, revised plan: ve get back to Earth, cloaked, und just monitor de radio chatter. See if dere's any mention of mein counterpart, or of other heroes und villains of de vorld. Ve may be able to find somevon else who can help us." "Dat long, eh? Hrm... vell, vhat if you just take us to, say, de Moon, as fast as you can, und den cloak us as ve approach Earth?"

Plan B: you drag Doc along at near-full speed 'till we reach the Moon, then we cloak & go in. ;)

The clunkiness is definitely a factor, yes, but there's also the "cheapness" of it, since Nested Arrays would let you do something like Power 12 (24pp; PF: 2 APs) [cost] * AP 1: Power 11 (22pp; PF: 2 APs) ** AP 1a: Power 10 (20pp; PF: 2 APs) *** AP 1ai: Power 10 (20pp) *** AP 1aii: Power 10 (20pp) ** AP 1b: Power 10 (20pp; PF: 2 APs) *** AP 1bi: Power 10 (20pp) *** AP 1bii: Power 10 (20pp) * AP 2: Power 11 (22pp; PF: 2 APs) ** AP 2a: Power 10 (20pp; PF: 2 APs) *** AP 2ai: Power 10 (20pp) *** AP 2aii: Power 10 (20pp) ** AP 2b: Power 10 (20pp; PF: 2 APs) *** AP 2bi: Power 10 (20pp) *** AP 2bii: Power 10 (20pp) Getting you twelve 20pp powers and two 22pp powers for a fairly cheap cost (normally, 26pp would get you seven 20pp powers, one base + six APs).

Hello?

MarkK, you still with us?

MarkK, you still with us?

That, too. You really wouldn't need all those spells as distinct powers; several could be done as one power, just at different ranks, and some may be so rare you can afford to just do them as Power Stunts.

Nested Arrays are a No-No. :shame: Why not just use the Magic power as-is from the M&M books? The vast majority of comic book mages don't have the "uses per day" thing D&D casters have.

It would be helpful if you gave more concrete examples of what you're looking to do. Judgments can rarely be made in a vacuum.

And the answer to Doc's question ("Can you carry me to Earth while cloaked?") is: yes. DS could have something like the following active Concealment 10 (all; Extra: Area; PFs: Close Range, Dynamic, Selective) [33] Enhanced Space Travel 1 (to Space Travel 2 [2c]) [1] Telekinesis 3 (ST 15, Hvy Load 200 lbs; Extra: Affects Corporeal; PFs: Dynamic) [10] At that speed, it'd take 5-30 minutes to reach Earth from Mars (depending on where they are in their respective orbits), since you'll be effectively traveling at Space Travel 1 (carrying a heavy load reduces your movement).

Archeville's scorched flesh rapidly regenerated, a process he seemed fascinated in watching. After he was healed, Archeville got a far-off look in his eye, and he seemed to just stare off into space for a moment. The moment seemed to stretch on. And on. And on. And then was broken by a burst of wild gesturing and pointing, and streams of rapid speech... which Dark Star could not hear since they were no longer in the same life support bubble (no shared air = no sound). After a bit he paused, and stared at his starry companion, as if waiting for an answer to some question. The expression breaking on his face -- followed by a slap of his forehead -- showed that he realized that none of his words had gotten though. He took up his E.S., reconfigured it to the short-range radio/gravity communicator, and began again. "Dere are two or three dings ve need to do, Herr Star. First, ve need to find some vay to get back to our home dimension. In mein laboratory you had mentioned you had recently figured out how to create vormholes; I believe dat may be a vay out, mit de proper adjustments. But ve cannot leave yet: ve must get back to dat Earth und find out exactly vhat happened..." Clearly he had not heard anything Dark Star had said while being healed. "... particularly to Gladiator, deir version of Centurion, und his final battle mit August Roman. Odysseus said dings vent to Hell vonce Gladiator vas out, but I dink ve may be able to bring him back." Bring him back? Yes, Archeville clearly put the "Mad" in "Mad Scientist." "Don't give me dat look, ve can do dis. Ve just need to figure out exactly vhen und vhere Gladiator vas vhen he vas ejected from Earth, und in vhat direction und at vhat speed. Den it's a simple matter of calculating how far he could haff gone, adjusting for de gravitational pull of stars und planets und thirty years of other celestial phenomena, und following de path." A "simple matter." Riiight.... "Also, I vould also like to examine de Farsiders on de Moon. Odysseus spoke of dem in a less-dan-kind tone, und I vould like to know vhy... dough ve must be careful, as mein research of de Atom Family's exploits indicates de Farsiders haff some potent telepaths among dem." He tapped his head at the word 'telepath,' perhaps Odysseus und his regime fear dem because dey can break vhatever mental conditioning dey use, or perhaps dey fear dem as competition. If it is de former, ve may be able to make some allies here." He paused again and looked past Dark Star, to Mars. "I vould also like to see mein doppelganger, mein counterpart here... but dat is more personal curiosity, und can vait." He paused again, "on second dought..." His face lit up, "seeing mein counterpart may be de best vay to learn vhat ve need to of dis vorld: he vould keep an eye on dings de same as I, even if unable or... unvilling... to do anyding about it! Ja... ja! Can you carry me vhile cloaked back to Earth? I can point de vay to vhere mein counterpart may be, dough ve must be careful as dey may be expecting us to visit meinself."

Correct... provisionally. I've no problem with varying trade-offs, but I'd rather not see a char who can, say, quickly switch between Brick/Powerhouse and Speedster at will. Characters should have moderately well-defined roles, and a char who is a Generalist/able to shift things around should not be as good at A, B, C, or D as someone who Specializes in A or B or C or D.

Dark Stars' Healing gives Doc a chance to make an immediate recovery check against his worst damage condition, with a bonus equal to the Healing rank (+14). It's a DC 10 check to recover from Staggered, so that automatically passed. Doc's only condition now is Fatigue. :)

It's like late-night Spike TV, though with less scantily-clad women. Ferrofluids: T1000 Aerogel: fireproof superstrong foamed air Perfluorcarbons: fluid you can breathe Elastic Conductors: Screens that can be rolled up Non-Newtonian Fluids: flexible body armor Transparent Alumina: windows for the USS Enterprise Carbon Nanotubes: nanotechnology

A Knowledge/Popular Culture check will let you know what Vulture is muttering.

Well, both sides have already done so (the prosecution was about to bring out its first Witness/Expert presentation/testimony), so if that's your plan....

As Dark Star zipped about, Archeville slowly came to. "Right," Archeville feebly replied, "just give me von moment to..." His hands slowly moved to the controls on his circuitry-lined belt, which at the moment was not giving off its usual soft blue glow. A few parts appeared to be burnt out -- though his face and hands were even more burned from Odysseus' plasma -- but the Doktor did.. something to it, and it began to glow again. Soon he was surrounded by his protective force field, which Dark Star knew, from their exchanges during the experiments they'd been conducting barely more than an hour ago in their home dimension, was sufficient to protect him from the hazards of outer space. "I should put some of dese on a separate circuit, und install some redundancies," he muttered as he closed some tiny panels on his belt. He then looked up to Dark Star, "Hurry, please, dere is much ve must do."

Terhune nods, then walked over to the older woman at the Cupid statue, maneuvering so he could keep an eye on the two young men. Now to see what sort of person this lad is. The young man shifted a bit when he saw Terhune leave the distant counter, and moved to another small display table. "Ah, Ms. Abernathy, always a pleasure to see you. How are you, my dear? All the cats are well, I trust?"

Pft, "reading." What's reading ever done for us?

Archeville reconfigured his Electromagnetic Screwdriver into something resembling a very large cell phone, and dialed 911. "Ja, hello, dis is Doktor Archeville. I am at de Star Island Space Control Center, vhere dere vas an attempted terrorist attack. Several men tried to set up two very large bombs here, but I und some associates stopped dem. De devices haff been defused, und de criminals are being held. Can you send somevon over, please? ........ Ja, ja, I vill hold." He faced the fleeing scientists and personnel and waved to them, in a half-hearted attempt to indicate that everything was alright.

Straightforward and to-the-point. On the one hand, I can respect that. On the other, I was hoping for some chit-chat, though which I might worm you some secrets. But... she seems the type that'd expect that, so maybe this way is best, for now. Terhune was a dutiful host, and poured tea for Gwen, William, Sirius and himself. He set Sirius' cup off to one side. "Direct and to-the-point, I see. Very well: I can offer a ready means of distributing certain items, and of locating others. My circle of contact is no doubt quite different from yours -- though I would not be too surprised if there were some overlap, aside form Sirius," he nodded towards him, "so I am certain there are tasks each can do that the other would be... less proficient at completing."

7 Man-Made Substances that Laugh in the Face of Physics (note: Cracked.com article) The List: Ferrofluids Aerogel Perfluorcarbons Elastic Conductors Non-Newtonian Fluids Transparent Alumina Carbon Nanotubes Sadly, there is no mention of Flubber.

Oh, don't worry, the fallout from Malice's home will take quite some time to clear up. ;)

At first it seemed Shark's armor was going to be considerably harder to cut off than Vulture's, as it was covered in tooth-like scales like the skin of a real shark. But as he worked at it, it gave away as easily as Vulture's: a closer examine revealed several un-scaled areas. Or perhaps it was the last bit of Shark's illusions, fading as he slipped deeper into near-catatonic unconsciousness. At any rate, once it is off, Shark is seen for what he truly is: a dumpy, mouse-haired lad, about the same age as Vulture. Vulture finishes removing his armor, muttering the entire time in a language unfamiliar to anyone's ear. It sounds harsh and guttural, but not like an incantation or anything magical.