Avenger Assembled

"Agreed," said Owain. "Come, Neko," he told her encouragingly, "we will show them they aren't so clever. Adreyn," he said out loud, his voice almost a whispered prayer. Smoothly his outline shifted as he collapsed down to the shape of a raven, flying up into the sky after Starshine. "I know what to do," whispered Neko. "Multi-Girl, whatever you are about to see, you must trust me." And then her aspect seemed to ripple and shift. Now she was a peasant girl, clad in a battered, dirty kimono and standing high on geta, stepping with authority as she carefully picked her way down the dirt road to the castle's front gate. She had a basket on her back, bamboo woven tight, and from its head a baby's face was clearly visible, peeking out alertly as she sang a sad song loudly enough to be heard in the castle, and headed for the gates: "Mori mo iyagaru, Bon kara saki nya Yuki mo chiratsuku shi, Ko mo naku shi Bon ga kita tote, Nani ureshikaro Katabira wa nashi, Obi wa nashi Kono ko you naku, Mori wo ba ijiru Mori mo ichinichi, Yaseru-yara Hayo-mo yukitaya, Kono zaisho koete Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi Mukou ni mieru wa, Oya no uchi!"

Neko studied the bracelet thoughtfully, toying with it by stretching it out with her fingers. "You just have bad luck," she said. "There are things far more frightening than you." She smiled and wrapped the bracelet around the string of the moon-shaped pendant she wore around her neck. "That must be hard, to see things you want and be unable to touch them." The cat on her lap hopped off and without preamble climbed up on Consuelo's. It was fat and soft and purring as it settled down, kneading biscuits with its paws. Consuelo could see Neko watching the cat, yellow eyes wide. "You can pet him if you want," she said softly. "He won't bite."

"Ohhh, it was Carmen, was it?" Neko came padding out of nowhere in particular and sat down next to the cat, which she petted before it climbed onto her lap. "Yes, she is very impressive, isn't she?" she added, sounding a little doubtful. She considered the other girl, then patted the roof next to her so Consuelo could actually join her. "You know," she said thoughtfully, "I was a small child the first time I saw someone who looked like you. I was so confused," she added with a little laugh. "I didn't understand how you could see or hear, or how you could walk around at all." Up close, Consuelo could see what Neko meant about ears. Though her long hair and fur usually hid it, she had no ears on the sides of her mostly human-shaped head.. The cat on her lap purred loudly as Neko stroked it. "Where I was born, everyone was like me. From the greyest elder to the littlest kit." She smiled, just a little. "That was a long time ago, of course," she added dreamily. "I suppose you can't keep a cat, can you?"

Neko was plucked tight as a shamisen string, tail lashing madly behind her, enough that Owain took a few steps in her direction. Not enough to actually touch her, as that would have just made her bolt, but enough that she knew he was close. "No," she said suddenly, a low whine at the edge of her voice. "No - no, this isn't Japan. Not my Japan." She studied the fortress, yellow eyes narrowing. "Like something from old stories." "The fae can be cruel tricksters indeed," opined Owain, thinking of how he'd feel if shown even a poor reflection of Camlann. "Is everyone well? Sound in wind and limb - and power besides?" He could see Neko's eyes, ears, and tail, of course, but those were part of her - not her magic. He smelled the air; and was struck by the distant scent of horseflesh, and the quiet of life before the horseless carriage. Perhaps this was closer to home than he thought.

December 1, 2023 Claremont Academy As if gym class wasn't bad enough... They'd been divided up as partners for basic unarmed combat when the flash of light came, a snap and boom of white that was all-too-familiar to La Puma Negra. The scene was familiar to none of them, however. They were no longer standing on the washable firm mats of the Claremont gym floor, instead they were standing inside a strange place. It was a room full of trophies; statues of a caped figure holding up a gigantic globe, surrounded by smaller statues of men and women in togas, artifacts from countless worlds and timelines. The walls on either side were of some exotic metal, as was the floor; with doors visible that seemed to lead off to a much larger tunnel complex. This was the lair of the late legendary Centurion, long a museum --- or was it? The whole place had a strange air about it as if long-neglected air had just been recently been disturbed, the air thick with dust and the distinct scent of blood. And then a man appeared; blonde and blue-eyed, he was wearing the Centurion's costume but clearly wasn't him. La Puma Negra recognized the adult form of Quirk (and perhaps a few others did too) - his daughter was no longer with him. "Welcome, combatants!" he called in a booming, artificially amplified voice. "You have reached the Centurion's stronghold! But be warned, if you seek to claim his true power, the guardians may not be what you expect! You must defeat them and reclaim the Centurion's rocket if you wish to be victorious. Let the combat begin!" And then, he vanished.

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As it turned out, the time was then! Ashley explained that she was allowed to borrow her wife's auxiliary spaceship if they stayed inside the orbit of Earth's moon. Judy volunteered to stay at home with Phil, promising to call Fa'Rua at the embassy if anything went wrong, and then Ashley and Carmen were headed out to the garage. The Lor spaceship they were taking was perhaps a little smaller than Carmen might have pictured, closer in size to a large sportscar than anything else, with her seat more of a jump seat behind the pilot. But still it was a real live spaceship, silver-bright like a mercury teardrop; its interior panels like the analog controls of a 1980s fighter-jet but cast in chrome and gold. "You all in?" asked Ashley as she buckled herself into the front seat. "This shouldn't take too long. If you flip that switch you can see out the rear cameras, and that one controls the music..." Most of the jump seat controls didn't actually work. "If something happens to me while we're flying," said Ashley seriously, "the autonav will kick in and fly you right to the Lighthouse; it won't even try to land on its own." She snorted, breaking the mood. "Don't want that to happen again. Are you comfortable?" She waved out the window to Judy and Phil, who had come out to see them off, Phil clinging to his 'big sister' as she rocked him in her glowing arms.

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One important thing - equipment doesn't stack with powers like Protection, so you'll need some other way to put her at defensive caps.

Best to tie it to one of the existing law firms in-game.

The Neko that Consuelo was talking to smiled a huge, inhuman smile, showing pointy intersecting teeth like a demonic Cheshire cat - before it seemed to vanish like so much smoke on the wind. For a bare instant, it seemed as thought Consuelo had been the victim of a cruel prank, alone on the darkened roof as the wind blew around her. "Why do you want to be a cat?" asked a voice from nowhere in particular, a ghostly murmur of sound like the pitter-pat of little feet. "Is it a game?" A sleek white short-haired cat appeared on the rooftop and padded towards Rot, its fur white and dappled with brown spots, its short stub of a tail a contrast to its plump, well-fed body. The cat started licking its paw while staring directly at Rot, scrubbing one ear so it seemed to be waving at her.

"Nay!" replied Owain ebulliently. "Though Môr is from the stock of Hengroen and Llamrei, I have ne'er been so pressed as to take her into battle. And though flying is pleasant, I find I prefer riding the bus or the flying train when not in battle. But perhaps that time will come, anon, who can say." He turned to Michael and said with all seriousness, as if consoling a friend in a time of weakness, "Michael, if a discount card is what you have, then I shall take it with pleasure. We all have the gifts given to us by God. Lawrence, well-met!" He clapped the younger boy on the back. "How is thy lovely mother?"

"Good," said Neko seriously. "But not now, it would be too...difficult." She considered a moment, then smiled. "Let's meet on the rooftop after curfew," she said. "After that, your training can begin." As she spoke, a fluffy white cat appeared in her arms as smoothly as if it had always been there, and she petted its belly while she studied Consuelo, the two of them looking at Rot with yellow eyes. "We might be in trouble if we are caught - but I never have done."

Neko's tail twitched behind her, her ears folding back, but she stayed smiling as she said "No, this one is only here while I am. But since you are my friend, I could make you one that lasts forever," she allowed, thinking ahead. "We can talk about that later, hm?" she asked, her yellow eyes blinking. At that moment, the day was saved when there came the nearby sound of hoofbeats. From the other side of the quad there came at a trot the arrival of a young man in armor on horseback; not quite the image of a knight in shining armor, more like the light armor of a Roman cavalryman or scout as he trotted up to join the group by the tree. "What ho, fellows!" declared Kid Gawain as he leaped from the horse, the magical steed vanishing as his boots touched ground. As always his accent sounded vaguely Welsh to the ears of people experienced with UK dialects - or rather, like a Welsh person playing Shakespeare on the stage. He clasped hands with the boys he knew, then smiled at Michael. "Well-met! Owain of Camlann, and yourself?"

Neko grinned at Gamma Buzz and put her clasped hands in front of her. Like a magician, she pulled them apart, revealing what looked for all the world like a bound collection of newspaper comics. "Look and see," she said, watching Baz as she handed the book over to him. "Careful, it is very light." Though the book was weightless to the touch, Baz could see what looked to be crude, stick-figure versions of himself battling enemies like The Ant King and The Bee-Keeper. The dialogue was very simple but he could understand all of it. "That is just here now," she added for the cockroach boy, "but maybe I could make one that's better with more time..." she added.

Neko hooked her legs around the branch where she crouched and dangled down, hanging upside down above the boys. "Whoop! Hey Baz!" she called down to Gamma Buzz. "We are showing Hunter x Hunter at anime club on Friday, do you want to see? It's got some bad bugs but they are pretty tough!" Neko loved anime club. Not because of the cartoons; most of which were products of a world far removed from the Japan she remembered. But it was pleasant to hear voices speaking Japanese again and the members of the club, well - they tended to be boys and they tended to be nice and they tended to be rather sheltered, and so they tended to do most of the things she asked of them. It was very pleasant.

"British, American - you all look alike to me," pronounced Neko cheerfully in Lawrence's direction. Not immediately interested in the conversation among the younger boys (for all that they seemed like pleasant young men), she took this opportunity to climb her way up a nearby tree and settle in, perching on a large branch and licking the back of her hand before running it through her white and brown hair.

Alone in her dorm room for the moment, Neko sat in a lotus position and mastered her fear and disgust. When she opened her eyes again, the illusory cockroaches had disappeared from the walls and the blood had started dripping down them. She looked inside herself and found the source of her reaction, a loathing and disgust for the girl outside that she'd never known before. Well maybe she had. She remembered Geisha, the foul, disgusting woman who had stood by Katana's side, the piece of city trash who could use her powers to make people hate her. And love her. It had been fitting, in the eyes of the Crimson Katana, to pair the old and the young with the similar powers together. It was only after her awakening in the present, with Geisha in a deep grave long since, that Neko had come to realize how much she loathed that woman. She sat alone in her room and gradually came to realize that nobody was coming. They were all talking to the new girl outside; she could hear easily enough with her keen ears. Well that was all right. She wasn't a dog who needed to be coddled; she'd only have been shamed if someone had come looking. After a time she exited by the window, climbing down the wall as easily as up it, and went looking for adventure elsewhere on campus.

Neko stared deep into Rot's eyes for a long moment, her tail twitching behind her, then circled the other girl. When she came around, she looked and sounded exactly like Consuelo herself. "Two can play at that game." She smiled, showing pointed teeth that didn't look like Consuelo at all. "Would you like it if I pretended to be you, but stupid?" She stuck out her tongue and crossed her eyes - then she was herself again, still moving. As she moved, she was joined by cats; white shorthairs with bobbed tails and brown spots on their fur that looked up at Consuelo with bright yellow eyes the same color as Neko's. "If you want to see what a cat is like," she added impulsively as an idea came to her, "we can show you..."

Neko introduced the boys one after the other, recognizing most of them from Owain's stories about the boys on his floor. They'd all seen her sneaking around and talking to Owain in the common room when it was technically late at night, though no one could exactly prove anything since she was never really there to begin with. (Nothing unsavory was happening; Owain didn't seem to be the type interested in girls.) "We have an international student body," she explained to Michael. "I am from Japan, Lawrence is British - and there are some people here from even more unusual places." She smiled at Gamma Buzz, who she actually liked well enough. She'd have preferred to meet a glowing cricket than a cockroach, but people that looked like animals. "Where are you from?" she asked Michael, her tail now flat and contented as it wrapped around her lower leg.

Despite herself, Neko had been about to intervene in the altercation between the two underclassmen before it was quickly broken up. "It is dangerous to do that here," she said cooly, tail gradually stilling behind her. "But it was not your fault. Some abilities are a curse, not a blessing." What a girl who could at best pass for a very talented cosplayer thought about that, she kept off her face as she said "The library has many books in many languages; it is very helpful if you want to learn." She pointed to a tree in the middle of the quad and said seriously, "That is where they strap the students who will be flogged. It hardly ever happens now, though." She smiled wide, showing off her front teeth. "So what are your powers?" she asked curiously.

Sea Devil found herself in a tough moral quandary as she poked the fallen monster again. She knew perfectly well that Surfacemen with guns, especially those with power, feared and tried to destroy the things that they didn't understand. She could easily have found herself in a place not unlike this woman, hiding in the water, eating what she could, hunted and feared by all and killing those who oppressed her. But on the other hand, Aquaria Innsmouth also knew that monsters ate babies. She had seen it happen. And one predator owed nothing to another except an obligation to make sure the herbivores didn't put it in a zoo. "What?" she croaked.

Neko stared at Consuelo, her yellow eyes wide and tail twitching behind her. She counted to ten and took the time to translate her words into English rather than Japanese. She knew intellectually that the dislike she felt around Consuelo wasn't real, that she had a responsibility to offer care for the girl with the terrible powers. Which was why she didn't say any of the many unpleasant things running through her head. Instead she said, her words dripping with ice as she stared at Consuelo. "What. Do You Think. You Are Doing."

Her tail thrashing and visibly puffed, Neko frowned as Rot approached them. "Helloooo there! Don't forget that cup!" she said cheerfully, pointing to a discarded piece of styrofoam that was probably out of Rot's line of sight. "You don't want to get into more trouble!" she added, folding her hands together demurely. Turning back to the conversation with the new boy, she added, "There are clubs. I am president of the anime club and the Future Farmers chapter." She smiled at that, showing pointed teeth. "There are no franchises here," she added, "it is an old-fashioned experience." She made air quotes over the second-to-last word, seeming to find the very idea amusing.

"When I was a sophomore," said Neko easily. "I was very young then." She smiled at Michael. "Oh, hockey, that is the game with sticks on ice, no? The Freedom City - Blades!" She smiled and said "Maybe when it is colder, you can show me your moves." Moving on, she added, "As for your brother, here is my card," she said, showing off a card with a QR code surrounded by images like a white cat wearing a Santa hat. "If you scan that with your phone, it will show you all the items from my partner stores." Many people had been more than happy to sponsor her show, once they saw just how profitable a real catgirl could be.