Avenger Assembled
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I can feel the difference when I'm making them, like different sounds nobody else can hear. I can't tell the difference if I'm just listening out in the wild. I feel like a deaf singer sometimes; like I can feel the vibrations but not actually hear the song. - "Maybe it's just that time of the month," sneered Knight, looking a little flustered by Jolan's proximity. "You know how women are." Ashley looked him in the eye and - suddenly burst out laughing. "Oh! I get it! What a dumbass!" she slapped the side of her head, then said, "You know that I could shoot you in the head and get away with it, and that's what you want me to do. Because you know what'll happen after you go home empty-handed after you dropped the game ball! Genetic re-sequencing? Neuter your ass? Maybe both?" She slapped the table suddenly, then said, "If you tell me who the leak was, maybe you'll just go to Blackstone instead." - Am-am I a Stellarian? Judy asked Fa'Rua. I can feel myself - changing, she admitted. There are already things I can't do anymore, and I think more is coming. - "You think they can't find me in there?" said Knight. "If New Freedom wants you dead, you're dead!" "There are things even you don't know about the US government, pal. I can put you somewhere they won't find you, if you give me _something._" - I'm afraid, admitted Judy. Ashley's the only person I can tell. Really tell, because nobody else knows our secret.
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Fa'Rua saw the girl blink, then concentrate. Yes. She was sitting in a big, overstuffed easy chair in a corner of the room, under the watchful eye of an older man with a bruise over his eyes and a younger one with a recently applied bandage to his face. They told me the energy works like mind-reading, but with radio waves. - The conversation helped distract Judy from the way Ashley dragged their armored attacker into the other room and snapped open her tonfa. "All right, you bastard," she hissed, "start talking." "Don't you have to read me my rights?" inquired the armored man curiously, Knight from the files Ashley had spent a moment or two glancing over. "That doesn't apply to prisoners of war!" Ashley hissed. "You think I don't know a New Freedom accent when I hear it? Why the hell would you come here?" The door behind them creaked shut, leaving her alone with two of her fellow agents, Jolan, and Knight. "Aren't you going to ask me how we knew?" he inquired, again sounding more curious than afraid. "Oh we'll find that out, #($(er! I want to know why!" Knight folded his arms, and looked cocky. "I know I'm not dealing with superheroes here, so you're _not_ going to try dangling me off a bridge or something, so why don't you-" "That's right." Ashley was sitting opposite him now, tonfa back in its place, staring at him. "You're not dealing with superheroes. There's no Raven to take you in, there's no Captain Thunder to save you from a rogue agent. You and your partner entered American soil to try and kidnap an underage metahuman and you opened fire on agents on the US government. The only reason you're not dead is because I saved my last grenade for your friend." "You're the one working with _aliens_," sneered the New Freedom agent. "Looks like you invited in the outsiders first." - I don't know very much about science, admitted Judy through the connection. I study biology and medicine in school, but that's for nursing, not like...physics and stuff.
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"Oh, Mia!" Judy was off the couch, and hugging her friend warmly. "Mia, Ah am so sorry." She had to look up to look Mia in the eye, but that was okay - it was no different than her friendship with Corinne the year before. "You are beautiful, and good, and any boy would give his eyeteeth for you. Or girl!" She added quickly. "Ah know it can feel a little...uncomfortable being around all these girls who look like supermodels and dress to show it to the world, but you are beautiful just the way you are. Here, come sit down with me and Leroy." She made sure to park Mia on the couch with herself between Leroy and Mia, not wanting to make things awkward, while the movie played on at the lowest volume. "Until Ah met Leroy, Ah never thought anybody would be interested in me, because all I ever did, um, was try and stay out of sight. But there is someone out there who can appreciate you, and you deserve to be appreciated." She shot a look at Leroy that looked unaccountably guilty for a moment, then went on, "Everybody deserves to be with somebody." Ashley shifted uncomfortably behind the teens, then said, "Don't need to be in a relationship to be worth something. You're the only person you need to impress." "Well...yes, that's true," Judy allowed. "You certainly don't need to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend."
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Judy was still in a good mood from her revelation to Leroy, so she started out the movie in a good mood too. She laughed at some of the early jokes and booed at the villain along with Leroy, figuring that was part of the show from the way Mia was acting. But as the plot went on, she found herself getting more and more confused - and more and more uncomfortable. Just keep smiling, she thought to herself as she watched the movie play, you don't want everybody to think you're a weird Christian girl. She was conscious that Mia was looking at her, and wanted to make sure she didn't see anything amiss. folded her hands on her lap, well-worn smile settling onto her face. This is not really following what the Bible says, she thought with guilt, going to Philippians 4:8 and Romans 13:14 in her head with the ease she'd had since she was a little girl. She knew her friends wouldn't find that a convincing argument, though Leroy would at least act like he was, so instead she fell on the other thing that seemed true. When Mia looked at her again, she said, her face set in a frown, "...isn't this real homophobic?"
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"Did...did he run off and make up some story about us?" asked Judy, her voice going up and face flushing. "That boy came here and grabbed my friend, and now he ran off and lied?!" Ashley interposed, suddenly acutely conscious of the risks of pictures being taken and passed around, knowing that when Judy's righteous indignation came it came like the waters of the Biblical Flood." "Strue. Boy there got handsy, she told him to knock it off, and that was the last we saw of them." You ask me, this is what happens when you let teenage boys go feral. She basically did your jobs. "You've got a policy for taking out creepers, right?"
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Ashley considered that, taking the suggestion considerably more seriously than she would have from one of Judy's friends. "Makes sense. Gonna be the best-defended spot around." She sent the coded message, and turned them around - resisting the urge to take the same route back so they could run over their mysterious antagonist one more time. It wasn't that she objected to that idea, really, just that she knew it might attract too much attention even on Halloween night. "Y-yeah," said Judy, looking down at her hands, opening and closing them now that her inner fires had died out. "That guy was trying to kill me, so Ah gave him what he deserved..." Her hands were still glowing slightly, like a phosphorescent echo. "It felt...it felt pretty good," she admitted tentatively. "Good. If you really like it..." god "...we can work on that." Ashley shot Fa'Rua a quick smile. "Nice shooting back there. And smooth teleportation," she added. "I've never seen anyone with that much fine control before," she admitted. - Back at the mansion, Watchdog, Daystar, and Infinity found a bruised and battered Secret Service team. The second man, the Hunter, had used a long-range gas gun to take them out: luckily he'd used a non-lethal mixture, and one that had faded in a short enough time that they were all still on their feet. That probably meant he hadn't had lethal plans for Judy, but Ashley was planning to tell her that exactly never. They found the broken suit of armor outside, Jolan having sensibly separated man from equipment in the event of cyberpathy - a wise precaution for someone used to dealing with mentats. Said worthy was inside the front room of the mansion, scanning the bound prisoner (a Loroid male with dark features and a substantial bit of facial hair under his nose) when they arrived.
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As things shook out (and as Judy shook the box before she counted the ballots), it was Abby who was the winner by a single vote - Ajay and Mia having tied for second. (Not everyone present in the room had voted, but those who had voted had only voted once.) Judy led the applause, followed with sighing reluctance by Ashley. "It's all right," Judy reassured Mia and Ayjay, "you guys sounded great, and Ah'm sure you'll be great leaders next year. Right now one of you should decide who is gonna be recording secretary for this coming year. Ah know it doesn't sound too glamorous, but trust me, you'll be running this place before you know it!" Turning to the winner, she beamed and said, "Abby, you will be excellent Ah am sure!" She took the other girl by the arms and looked her up and down. "Ah know all this is a little scary, but Ah've got great news. Ah'll work with you to help get you ready to be the best President you can be!" Gotta work on her fashion, she thought sympathetically.
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ic Extradimensional Birdwatching Club (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Bayview
The next morning, there were pigeons everywhere. Everywhere! A thoroughly disgusted Watchdog had made her way back to the the girls' tent, where she'd startled Judy by stripping down to her skivvies before changing into her spare outfit. Thoughts like Should have taken the $(#Ing teleport ride $(#@( kept her up when she saw how much cleaner looked Mia and Davyd looked when they arrived. Everywhere! Chasing the pigeons away from the central firepit took some doing the next morning, but Mr. Jorgensen explained this was nothing unusual. "The passenger pigeons are a little early this year!" he laughed as he did his best to cook everybody's breakfast, though he seemed a little nervous beneath the gaze of tens of thousands of beady black eyes. Not that there were only tens of thousands of birds, no; just that in the midst of the vast flock, no, ocean of pigeons that had settled down over this alternate version of Bayview, only a few tens of thousands seemed to be watching them at any given moment. Everywhere! "Why did they fly in at night?" asked Judy, raising her voice a little over the singing. Oh, there was singing all right: not the whole flock by any means, but with a flock this massive even a small portion cooing and screeching and singing was loud enough. "($#($ing passenger pigeons," Ashley opined. "They are the worst #$(ing birds." Everywhere! -
The two lovebirds had to dim their lights for the movie - otherwise they couldn't see the screen. Judy parked herself on the couch right next to Leroy, her thigh against his thigh, and beamed as the movie came on. Things were going very well indeed. They probably wouldn't have time to watch Grace Unplugged tonight, not with curfew sending Leroy back to his room, but that wasn't such a bad thing - it just meant they'd have an opportunity for a second date. She didn't even mind if he ate any of the snacks. Behind them, Ashley leaned casually against the wall, munching on white cheddar popcorn occasionally as the movie came on. She was polite, and didn't comment about how Brad and Janet seemed like a couple of dumbasses even in the 1970s as the movie got into its actual plot.
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The alien thing fell from the back of the car as the shot tore away more of its weird flesh, bouncing along like a macabre Halloween prank before smacking into one of the parked cars on the side of the road. Watchdog was sorely tempted to pull a hairpin turn, spin around and hit him at 200 MPH, but she sped off into the night and left him there in pieces. She reached behind her with one arm and pulled a sobbing Judy into the front seat next to her, the girl's survival training taking over as she buckled herself in. "Judy, listen to me," she said firmly, "you didn't do anything wrong just now." It helped that the alien creature had almost certainly survived everything they'd just done, so any complications would be much less. "You have a right to defend yourself." "But...but I _killed_ him," Judy said, looking down at the green-black blood on her hands. "Isn't that murder?" "Defending yourself is not murder," said Ashley firmly. "And you should never feel ashamed about standing up for yourself." She took the girl's hand and squeezed it, having been forced to slow down in traffic. "You are strong, and you are brave, and you did the right thing tonight. And I'm reasonably sure he was still a hostile even after we drove him off." - Both Watchdog and Infinity got radio signals after that; and with no coincidence. Ashley's team back at the mansion had survived, though they were all nursing injuries, and Fa'Rua's brother had arrived back at the scene of their original battle to help subdue a man in broken power armor trying to make his escape. "Okay," said Watchdog once they'd talked again. "I need to take her to our safe house. That's ten, twenty minutes, tops. Then we can head back and interrogate that asshole in the armor?" It was better than apologizing for her fellow goddamn humans ruining the goddamned evening. At least Judy had calmed down; and was even beginning to dim her fires now that they'd seemingly vaporized the alien blood on her.
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Shrugging off her momentary embarrassment about Ashley's question about sex, Judy folded her hands on her lap and watched as Serena spoke. She felt things twisting inside her at the older woman's words about sacrifice on behalf of her child, thoughts tumbling through her head. She thought of her own mother, and all the lessons she'd learned about making sacrifices on behalf of her family. "But what if you needed it?" she asked suddenly, earning her a distinctly odd look from Ashley for a moment. "What if you had needed to keep your powers secret, because...Ah don't know, to keep your family safe, or something..." Blushing, she looked down at her hands.
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Tou vs 30 http://orokos.com/roll/768079 he's down, sports fans! And messy, too.
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Judy hugged her tight, not quite painfully warm, and stepped aside so Leroy could (carefully) hug her too. Ashley, meanwhile, was already inside the room, having been completely comfortable with not getting a close look. She looked at the snacks and decided to take her cue from Judy. Judy was almost always comfortable with people eating in front of her, but she never liked to start until she knew how her ward was doing. "Nice party," she commented. "-so after, uh, Halloween, Ah did some thinking, and Ah want to get the same kind of training y'all are getting. So more workouts, but Ah think it'll be fun. And Ah'm gonna have a good supername too; Daystar." She nodded in satisfaction at that, then added, "but, uh, you don't have to call me that! Ah'm not a crazy person or anything."
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Whatever tragedy or bad feelings would later come in their relationship, for now a goldstar princess and her blackfire prince walked the halls of the Claremont dorms linked arm-in-arm, and even Watchdog had to admit it was romantic in a way. Maybe she can marry him - when they're both 21, and he's not living in Hellworld, and when her father isn't the President of the United States! It was just an idle thought, though, one quickly lost beneath the layers of what a terrible idea it would be. They certainly caught lots of attention as they made their way to Mia and Danica; but luckily Judy emitted enough kinds of light powered-up to make a hash of almost any sort of picture, and Ashley didn't need to bodycheck anybody with interest and a good camera out of the way. Mia and Danica's door was closed - and with a glowing smile on her radiant face, Judy whispered, "Let's surprise her," before knocking.
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Inside the car, Daystar looked at the monster breaking in after her, the one her hero was helpless to save her from, the one who had probably killed all the other good people who'd been trying to save her - and she reached within. From her position wedged up between the driver's seat and the passenger's seat, Judy brought her hands together and spoke aloud. "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until the full day." Realizing too late what she was doing, Watchdog jerked the car from side to side, proving unable to shake the man behind them loose. "No, Judy, wait a second!" But it was too late, as a beam of blue light erupted from Judy's hands as she screamed in defiance. But it wasn't blue light, not really; it was the Cherenkov radiation produced by the gamma ray production of a small star. The blue light erupted backwards, shattered the armored glass - and blew off their unwanted passenger's head. Judy screamed again, this time not in triumph, as there was a shower of something that was decidedly not human blood - green and black and other things, and the now-headless being behind them was impossibly _still_ hanging on, and moving as if planning to make a second attempt at them. "Oh my Lord, oh my God!"
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Daystar blasts him! She'll beg an HP from Ashley (for Ashley getting into a fight in front of Fa'Rua!) Attack vs Bad Guy: http://orokos.com/roll/767772 = okay, that hits with the HP! Fort vs 19 http://orokos.com/roll/767773 well that's an ethos His Tou is now -1? OK then http://orokos.com/roll/767774 = welp. I'm going to give myself an HP and put this guy at staggered and injured. Watchdog: Drive check! http://orokos.com/roll/767776 = 18 not quite enough to shake him loose! Bad Guy 2 is busy. Okay, @angrydurf, you'll be up as soon as I post IC!
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"Separate question," said Ashley. The teen hooligan radiated cocky confidence, a smirk on her face as she studied Mia's mom. She actually had no real beef with the older woman, who had served her time and was now a functioning member of society. If she was going to play the part of the cocky delinquent forced into being socially responsible, she had to give her a little bit of a hard time. "What's a good gay bar in town that serves metas? Maybe doesn't check IDs?" She spread her arms, conscious of Judy's blush. She'd talked to her about the question in advance, but it still wasn't her favorite thing to overhear!
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Nice! A nat-20 seems like it should give you a +2 boost, so it does. Tou vs 25: 28 Man, where are these damn nat-20s when I actually need them?
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Then the shots rang out - the screaming bolts of a primitive blaster pistol zipping past Fa'Rua's face like flares of red light, another set spattering against the rear windows of the Dawg with a sickening crunch. Ashley spared a single glance backward at their rapidly approaching antagonist - a maniac in all black, riding a one-man hanglider and blasting away with a laser pistol, just before he smacked into the rear of the armored car. Not quite hard enough to break his neck, dammit! "Judy get down!" she yelled, flooring it and trusting her ally to blast the hell out of the newly-arrived cling-on: especially once she saw him trying to burn his way through that already cracked window with a glowing yellow power glove.
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Okay: Bad Guy 2! Because most of us made our Notice, we are not caught flat-footed by his attack. He hits the back of the Dawg but can't get through! Sucks to be him. Infinity is up at the start of round 2 as soon as I post IC! Give me a Dex check to see if you take any penalty with all the speeding around - not too hard given how high yours is!
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Ashley's eye twitched as she looked at Leroy. Don't. Spoil. The. Moment, she thought, and then carefully looked away. "Ah have something Ah want to show you first, Leroy." Judy took a step back and smiled, folding her hands in front of her. "Ah've been practicing this for the last couple of days, and, well, Ah decided it was your turn to see it..." She closed her eyes - and seemed to catch fire from within. A glowing wash spread across her skin and her hair and over her eyes, until the warm yellow light of a summer morning filled the room. She wasn't quite too bright to look at but she was glowing enough he'd have never recognized her if he hadn't seen her change, eyes and mouth glowing like a photographic negative, hair behind her radiating like Jacob's Ladders. "Ah wanted you to see me like this tonight."
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Fast-Forward bolted back onto the scene at super-sonic velocity, stopped in the middle of the group of kids, and snapped his fingers. And almost immediately collapsed. "Son of a _bitch_," he said as he dropped to the ground like he'd been hit in the balls. "Jesus Christ!" he added as he rolled over onto his back. "That is exhausting." That turned out to be a glowing dome of silver-streaked neon light that surrounded the captured meta-teens without actually including their teleportation beacons. "Okay, they're on pause. Even if she shows up here, she can't...Ugh, my freaking back..." Richard laid down on the pavement, looked up at the ceiling, and reflected on what Clock Queen had done to super-villains who threatened her child to her face. Well there was a reason why nobody in the Crime League had done that more than once. It was easier to think about that than putting his fist through Heather's face at super-speed, anyway. "Ugh, maybe I am old."
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Infinity's shot was well-aimed; better than the armored Terran shooting at her. She hit what seemed to be a power source in his midsection, making him curse loudly as electric sparks crackled across his armor, sending him wobbling and bobbling around in the air, unable to get off a clear counter-shot. Daystar scrambled into the back of the Dawg, still glowing, and assumed crash position - she'd drilled for this with Ashley repeatedly, and after her big show hadn't seriously damaged their opponent she was ready to take cover. Guess I'm not so dangerous to super-people! Later it would be a triumphant thought, for the moment it tasted bitter in her mouth. Watchdog took a moment to think of her team out front - but knew that they were giving their all to protect Judy. "Jussec." She drew one of her last grenades from her belt and tossed it out the window like a softball, the sticky charge hitting the guy outside right where Infinity had shot him. She didn't hesitate; slamming on the gas and revving out of the parking lot with far more zip than a normal car this size! By the time she spared a look backwards, the charge had already gone off; blasting pieces off the armor as the man inside smashed into the wall where he'd tried to break infinity. "Don't give up," she said to Fa'Rua, "they wouldn't have sent one, not in Freedom City..." She opened her helmet, the better to get peripheral vision. She looked back to Daystar in the mirror and said, "Judy, we're heading back to school; there's more defenses there than at the safehouse!" "But what about---you know?" "It's not worth your life. Or anybody else's." She shot Fa'Rua a look that was downright apologetic. "Sorry." With the car speeding down the darkened streets of Lantern Hill, it was all she had time to say: for now.
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ooc Extradimensional Birdwatching Club (OOC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Archives
Horrorshow looks up to see: something coming up the coast, passing between the stars and the ground, something so thick in the sky it blots out the very night sky above! And from the center of that vast flock, perhaps with his enhanced hearing, he can make out...their song! -
Daystar: has shot her shot, she'll get in the car! Watchdog: throws another bomb! She's getting low, but she really needs to tag this guy Reflex vs 20: 4 Tou vs 25: 13 Now she drives like woah 15 That's reasonable, okay. A post or two at full speed now - we are still in initiative, though... Durf, if you like, you can make a Notice check vs DC 25: Watchdog: 29 Daystar: 24 So sad for Judy!