Dr Archeville

"Well, ah... that is..." he trailed off. Even after all he'd been through, it was unusual to see him fumbling so. The Doktor stopped, cleared his throat, leaned forward in his chair slightly and placed his hands on the table before him. "I'd like to offer my help. With Sanctuary, that is. I can only imagine there's a lot still to do, and I wanted to offer whatever assistance I can. Or, ah, that you'd feel comfortable accepting."

May 25th, 2012 (Friday) "You three go on, I'll finish up the report; it's almost time for my monitor shift to start anyway." The Freedom League Auxiliary -- Ace Danger, Doktor Archeville, Fleur de Joie, and Freedom Angel -- were in Freedom Hall's monitor center, finishing up their reports for their latest encounter. Larceny, Inc. was back in town, and they, Downtime, and Magpie were having a contest over who could steal the best prize. But one of them had stolen a reliquary from the sealed vault of a church, and that's when things went to hell -- the reliquary was cursed, its effects shielded by the consecrated vault, and once it was out, it began spitting out demons! The FLA caught the thieves and took back the reliquary, and while Heyzel held it the reliquary was quiet, but they had yet to figure out what to do with the seemingly invulnerable thing. Heyzel was going to ask around about its origins, Ace said something about a confessional, and Stesha had matters back at Sanctuary which needed attending. "Ah, Fleur, hold up," Archeville called as she headed out, "I... I've been meaning to ask you something." His 'professional' tone had dropped, which was a change: in the ten months since the 'Dokthulhu' event, he'd barely said two words to the other Leaguers that wasn't directly related to some heroing work, or reporting about his recovery, and this sounded like neither.

So in the oh-so-good Spectacular Spider-Man, Curt Connors' regeneration formula didn't work until it was hit by a stray blast from Electro; once energized, it worked, and of course turned him into a horrible Lizard-man. Looks like the writers were on to something.

More advanced than what Hitler had... so this probably isn't some secret facility my grandfather set up, and taken over by someone else. Probably. So who? "" the Doktor said, shaking his head, "" he said as he placed a hand on the door. "" he paused, "" He opened the door.

Knowledge (Behavioral Science) (1d20+5=21) Sense Motive (1d20+3=20) Not bad!

Many thoughts raced through the golden robot's mind as it flew towards the home of Kelly Print's parents. In short order Protectron's thrusters brought it to the home it sought, and as soon as it was in range it opened fire on the Prints, snaring those furthest from the home. But where was Print-Prime?

Whoa, that felt unlike any other form of teleportation I've experienced. Interesting implications... but, one mystery at a time! "" the Doktor began as he ran his screwdriver around the area, looking for both life signs and familiar tech, "" These teleporters look similar to the League's, but Daedalus and his son have incorporated so many technologies into those over the decades, including extraterrestrial tech, that Freedom League teleporters look like a lot of different kinds of teleporters. A control panel would best tell me what I want, but I believe that is in another chamber. And that is a big door, but I'd prefer to get more readings before going through. Luckily -- heh -- it seems the trip took more out of Edge than I'd expected, so I don't need to worry about him barging on through.

Fall back, secure selves in armors or cells, Protectron told the dispatcher as it jetted over to the station. Prints appear mainly interested in conversion and general mayhem; keeps selves separate from Prints, I shall do what I can to subdue them. The robot shuddered a fraction, though whether this was due to the thought of the Lab staff which it considered its friends being turned into Prints disturbing it, or damage to its stabilizers caused by his earlier fight affecting its ability to fly true, none could say. Soon it was at the station, firing off more volleys of steel wire bolos at the mass of Prints. Dispatch, I am here. What is your status? Has there been word from the doctors, have they found anything useful in the blood samples?

Throw Dok in for a solid 'yes' -- I need to reconnect more with the site.

"I'm really glad that worked!," the Doktor exclaimed. He smiled and gave a thumbs-up to Glow, "and you -- you did great!" He was about to reply to Jackson's outburst, but the reported passed out, so he turned back to the telekinetic teen, "ah, try not to let him bother you, there seems to be one on every newspaper's staff. Helps to keep us on our toes, I suppose, keep us honest." I just hope he didn't hear too much of what that Gremlin said -- I already feel bad enough that I caused all this, I'd rather not have another verse for the chorus singing my litany of sins. "I shall try to keep us steady, sir!," he called to the pilot, "though I'll warn you this thing," he indicated the Screwdriver, "is currently held together with spit and willpower."

Dead Head delays, so he'll go at the same time as Mutt.

7pp for Dead Head 2pp to bump up Wisdom, to 12/+1. 1pp to increase his Protection by 1 rank. 4pp to upgrade his shovel from Equipment to a Device. Device 1 (Shovel, 5 points; Flaw: Easy to Lose; PF: Subtle [shrinks down]) [4PP] Shovel 1.5 (3 points; PFs: Alternate Power 2) [5PP] BE: Strike 2 (PF: Mighty) {3/3} AP: Burrowing 3 (digging; Soil: 5MPH / 50ft per Move Action, Hard Clay / Packed Earth: 2.5MPH / 25ft per Move Action) {3/3} AP: Super-Strength 1 (leverage; STR 27 [Heavy Load: 1,040 lbs.]; PF: Breaking) {3/3} Dead and Buried by Supercape

"Ah-ha!," he exclaimed, happy to find some solid lead. "About thirty kilometres north-northeast... under Dunkelstadt! Well, well, I've not heard that name in some time -- place had a bad reputation even before the Nazis used it for target practice and made it a ghost town. Perfect place to hide a secret laboratory." He looked to Edge, to Fafnir and Nina, then back to Edge, "not sure my Belt can handle teleporting all four of us, and I certainly don't want to leave him behind. Do we fly in, or do you think you can teleport us?"

'I'll be goin' t'jail soon anyway like I wanted' -- like he wanted? Why would he want to go to jail? I definitely need to keep an eye on this one. Archeville grunted again, "better not be some American swill, that'd be adding insult to injury." And then he laughed. It started as a soft chuckle, but soon swelled to a gut-buster as the absurdity of the situation struck him. "Oh, this is rich -- to think, you may be the only 'drinking buddy' I have now!" Well, there's Harrier, I suppose, though I'm fairly certain he can neither suffer nor enjoy the effects of alcohol. The police soon swarmed in, waiting a few moments after it seemed the fighting had stopped. They were surprised to see Breaker still standing, and more surprised to see he came along quietly. His henchmen -- the fifteen on the floor, and the two still bawling in the vault -- were also carted off. When Archeville gave his statement, he made sure to point out that Breaker had let the hostages go; at the trial, he asked for leniency, and for the judge to consider putting him on the Project Freedom rehabilitation program. He also snuck in two bottles from his own home microbrew, which they shared just before the trial got underway.

Electromagnetic Screwdriver --> Light Control --> "Hard Light" Create Object to make a ramp & landing pad!

Archeville looked to his Screwdriver, well, if Star Knight can do it... "I think I know a way," the Doktor said as he continued down the cabin, careful not to jostle his patched gear too much for fear of breaking, towards the hole left by the absent door which the Gremlin had torn off. He approached the opening, and looked out once more at the missing wing. Taking a firm hold of the edge of the door's setting with his left hand, he slowly swung out the doorway, putting his whole right half outside. Yeow! If this is how strong the winds are now, I shudder to think how much more intense they'd be if my force field were not wrapped around it! In his right hand was his Screwdriver, and from it shot a kaleidoscopic beam of light; he struggled to keep it steady despite the winds threatening to tear his arm off. The beam grew wider and wider, thicker and more solid, until it was as wide as the aircraft's body, and continued down to the water. The pilot felt the beam beneath the craft, acting like a rail, reducing the spin and guiding it more smoothly down. Once they were close enough that the far end of the beam made contact with the ocean, it spread out, in the form of a lily pad, big enough to hold the plane. Or so he hoped. "If we cannot make it to a landing strip, I will just have to make a landing strip for us!," he exclaimed.

HP to clear Fatigued Extra Effort for a new stunt off its Enhanced STR 18: Snare 6 (Extras: Area [30-ft. Burst, Targeted], Selective Attack; Flaw: Action [Full], Range [Touch]; PFs: Accurate 2 [+10 to hit], Progression 4 [600-ft. Burst Area]) {18/18} Power Attack 'maneuver' -2 Attk/+2 Effect Taking 10 on attacking the Print-Minions = hits Defense 18, then they make a DC 18 Reflex save to avoid the Snare. Fatigued, Injured, 1 HP

Acknowledged, Protectron replied over its comm, I am en route to the area. "Sir," it said to the newly-healed man, "I must go and attempt to aid the police in controlling this new threat to organic life." It walked over to the three Prints it had just knocked out, and knelt beside each. One of its hands had been shifting again, and now had hypodermic needles coming out from each finger; it carefully drew blood from each of the three, storing the samples in vials within itself. It turned back to the man, "I am going to carry you, and these blood samples, to the nearest medical facility." Before the man could give any protest, the needles retracted and it scooped him up, and the two flew off to the nearest doctor. The golden robot quickly explained the situation, handed off the three samples, and was off again before any thanks could be given, to the area the police were desperately trying to contain. Flying over the scene, it raised its hands out to the mob of Prints, hands which had reconfigured themselves once more into large-barreled cannons. It shot out scores of thin but strong cable bolos, snaring many of the Prints. But where was Print-Prime?

Archeville grunted, reaching up with his empty hand to feel where his jaw had been smacked. "No, Flint, it isn't fair. It's not fair that I keep getting blamed for-" He slumped in a bit, lowered his tone, "no. No, that's not true. I may not have been the one who grew those things in my laboratories, or sent them out across the globe through my ArcheTech teleporters -- that was the thing that took me over, the alien that sought tho throw the world into utter chaos. But long before it took me over, before it made me its puppet, I knew there was something there, lurking at the edges of my mind. I thought it was nothing, that I could handle it, that I didn't need any help with it. I hid it from my friends, my allies, my teammates." A sneer of contempt -- self-contempt -- came to his features, "so it was me, my arrogance that lead to what happened, and I'm never going to fully make up for it all. And even if I could, the folks I most want to won't give me the chance to do so, won't even look at me or hear me out. So why bother?" Because it's the right thing to do. Because no one else can. Because otherwise the monsters win, and all the good I have done will have been for nothing.

Move Action: Switch Brain back to Enhanced CHA

Stupid, stupid... The words going through Archeville's mind were the same, but now they were directed at himself rather than Breaker. All this time he had yet to put up his full force field, seeing as he was doing so well and the crooks had yet to proven a true challenge. The speed and strength he'd shown in leaping up and locking me into that chokehold should have been a rather big clue that this confrontation was not going to go as smoothly as I had been anticipating. The Doktor's labcoat and the low-level continuous force field his Belt provided did offer him some protection, so the blow did not knock him out. It did dislocate his jaw, and sent him flying back to the vans, slamming int the large sacks of stolen money.

KB is -9, yes. (Future reference, if Knockback distance is calculated to be less than 5 feet, it just knocks the target down prone.) Toughness save, DC 30 (1d20+14=16) that'd fail by 14, putting Dok at Staggered & Dazed (so he would be knocked back). I'll go with that (and keep my 1 HP). A good lesson in not getting too cocky.

I feel I should point out that at no point has Dok put up his "Force Field" (his active sustained Enhanced FORT/Impervious Toughness/Shield thing), so he's at Defense: +8 (+6 base, +2 Dodge Focus), +3 flat-footed Toughness: +14 (Impervious 4) (Subtle Protection 10 from Belt, Subtle Impervious Protection 4 from Coat) Knockback: -9 (Why has Dok not put up his 'Force Field'? Because he hasn't seen the need to.) Breaker can see he's got no obvious Force Field up, so he may try to throw a punch (or piece of office furniture) at the cocky Scientist.

How close is the nearest land mass?

'Shadow and darkness'? Now there's a loaded phrase. Archeville nodded to Edge, "I should be able to, yes; teleporting something that large and that complex would require a lot of power. But I'm more concerned about what we may find on the other end. Is 'my father was shadow and darkness' referring to some darkened lab, an artificial womb in which he was grown? A SHADOW lab, even? Or something more," he fought to control a disdainful sneer, "mystical? Phantom has mentioned shadow and darkness 'mages,' though she said they tend to work subtly. Someone like that wouldn't create a great fire-breathing monster... unless it was to serve as a distraction from its real goal." The Doktor made more adjustments to his Screwdriver while bouncing ideas off Edge, looking for a teleport signal he could trace. "I'm also wondering if it appearing here, now, was mere coincidence. If someone went to the trouble of making it think I attacked its family, could they be monitoring the area, even now, and released it when they saw me arrive without an AEGIS or UNISON squad escorting me? While the list of people who hate me enough that they would send a fire-breatihng dragon after me is... considerable, the list of those who could send one after me is, mercifully, much shorter."