Avenger Assembled
-
Posts
23,145 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Freedom City Guidebook
Freedom City PBP: A How-To Guide
Gallery
Events
Everything posted by Avenger Assembled
-
When Sgt. Shark was gone, Aquaria let herself make a rumble down in her throat, snapping her teeth inside her armor with an audible sound. This won't be so bad. And then she leaped into the water, her forward limbs cleaving into the water as she dived deep. Underwater her long, gawky limbs and big hands became elegant instruments of underwater motion. With quick, powerful motions, she kept up with Sgt. Shark, exulting as the sea water poured inside her armor and replaced the gel that usually kept her lubricated. She wasn't home, but diving deep into the ocean, she was home. As she swam, not having been cautioned to stay silent, she sang, a deep, booming bass that echoed from her like whalesong - on the small scale, anyway.
-
The heroes interrupted the ritual on the steps of what had once been one of the school's main buildings, now looking damaged by what must have been a fire and then several years of winters. The plant growth here was thicker than it should have been, thick mossy vines with woody stems that reached through the burnt-out windows of the broken building like fingers erupting outwards through a thousand eyes. It was raining here too, of course, the downpour casting a strange light on the assembled cultists. There were about a half a dozen of them with black robes and eldritch symbols; albeit robes that didn't quite fit and symbols that looked straight out of a catalog. But there was power here too, power in the cultist pinning down the struggling pig in the middle of the pentagram carved into the steps. She had a knife in her hand, a serrated blade that looked like an exotic steak knife, but whatever magical energy here was hers. When she spoke, she had to shout over the rain, her accented voice carrying over the chanting of her fellows. "By the power of...the dark gods, and in the Unspeakable Name! I take this life, to open the door to-"
-
My first kiss! For a moment Judy didn't care that it wasn't exactly the right time or the right place, or even the right boy if she was totally honest with herself. What mattered was that Leroy was very handsome, and the feeling of his lips on hers was absolutely wonderful. But then she did care, because she had to, because she had responsibilities that went beyond her secret identity and her father's job, and she gently (albeit reluctantly) pulled away. "That was very nice," she whispered, her lips a little swollen from the kissing. "Ah like you a lot, Leroy." She glanced up and frowned over Leroy's shoulder at Ashley, who had suddenly gotten a lot closer but was not actually looking in her direction.
-
Comrade Frost shrugged and asked baldly, "Why is my problem?" Smoking was mostly illegal in Hong Kong these days, which only added to his irritation as he paced the halls of the club. "Hornet is fool if he thinks him "successor" to Sin when Sin is in jail of all places." The relevant authorities had ignored the recommendations he'd made about how exactly to hold Sin, too, which meant that it would not be many more years before he was loose again on the world. "Let Chinese authorities handle such crimes, or perhaps Chinese metahuman population - if they can really be called such," he said with what passed for jovial disdain. "Chinese government has made it _very_ clear their thoughts on Russian agents operating on their soil and while it would amuse me to save themselves from themselves again, well, I would need to know I had your _full_ cooperation." He shrugged, a curious look on his face.
-
"I am here because of my parole," croaked Sea Devil unhappily. She had made it clear by embarassed noises (there was no better word for them) that she did not want to talk about what had put her on parole on the voyage out, but the information was no secret. "And because a flood would be bad." She knew that well enough - what would Surface-Men do if their cities drowned beneath the waves, not just to these aliens but to any who made the waters their home? Perhaps they can be made to flood a place the Surface-Men do not claim - but then what place is that worth having? She drew herself to her feet, her knees bent forward to look more like a Surfacer, and raised the trident to fasten it to the back of her armor to free both her hands. Seeking to reassure the unfamiliar Surfacer, she said, "They would not destroy us. My friend knows where we are, and her sister has defeated your gods. She would be angry."
-
ic The Slow and the Sensible (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Lantern Hill
"Cowboys isn't a good team name," said Judy, "Ah mean, there's just one boy!" "That's right, you hold still," said Watchdog, holding her targets at gunpoint while thinking about how to handle this. "I have zip ties in my utility belt, Pulse. Tie them up." Judy's eyes widened before she said, "Ah...okay..." Nervously, she dug around in Ashley's pockets until she found several sets of zipties, then began the process (under Ashley's direction) of carefully binding up their prisoners. Judy was a sensitive soul, muttering, "Sorry, sorry," as she went about her work. As she did so, Ashley took out her phone with her free hand and pressed a few buttons. She held it to her ear and after a moment's pause growled, "Yeah! This is Watchdog! Listen to me, cowboys, I got some lowlifes here! You get the cops down here and pick them up before my friends and I decide to have a little _fun_." "You okay back there, Chelone?" she called. -
Wadjet had obviously wanted to slip away from the group upon their arrival at Snacktastic, especially with the nearby presence of police. "Cops shoot girls with guns!" she said as she took shelter behind a parked car before rioters or police alike could spot them. "You want me to shoot 'em?" she asked her compatriots, not specifying who. She was already loading her rifle, which on closer inspection was clearly a paintball gun and checking the distance between her hiding place and the alley. - Lady Horus flew up to the window where the obvious suicide was waiting and thought fast. "Lo! Fear not, mortal!" she called as her team made their way into the government office through the other door. She got close enough to make sure the guy couldn't jump for it. "The Avenging Sun is here to save you!" Wish I'd brought Wadjet, she thought irritably. She'd know to shoot the guy so he falls backwards.
-
"Why are they aliens?" Her face invisible in her opalescent armor, Sea Devil's voice was obviously artificial in nature - an electronic rendition of a booming bass that suggested nothing human underneath the armor. She rested the trident, points up, against the deck in front of her, a three-fingered armored hand curled around it. She realized she did not know the Deep Ones of this great ocean, not more than to know they existed. What would they make of flooded cities of the Surface, and the times that might follow? "If it was their ocean long enough to sleep in it, why are they aliens?" It occurred to her that these might well be Deep Ones that the Surface-Men had misunderstood. She was reasonably sure they wouldn't send her against her own people. The question helped distract her from Sgt. Shark, whose exotic good looks (his manly build and feminine odor were intriguing to say the least) were the second most-interesting thing about this mission.
-
ic The Slow and the Sensible (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Lantern Hill
Ashley moved through tactical scenarios in her mind like lightning before she realized there really was only one choice. Can't knock him out. Can't let him go in there alone. Can't tell him to stay here. Can't- She reached inside her jacket and came out with a gun. Micah had seen her use her pistols in combat at Claremont, the laser guns were showy and devastating in a fight, and the energy they spread wouldn't kill their target the same way a bullet would. "Let's do this," she hissed. "Judy, st-" Except my support team is about to fight an invincible turtle but I cannot leave the First Daughter unguarded in the middle of a possible super-battle. "Judy, you're with us. Stay behind me." If things did go pear-shaped, she could call the helicopter overhead and have the girl airlifted out. "Micah, you stay behind me too and make sure nobody tries to hit us from behind." And so it was that Ashley kicked open the door of Claire's, gun drawn, and yelled the code words "Cowboys! Everybody down! Right now! Hands behind your head!" Ashley did indeed cut a frightening figure, the mundane menace of the weapon in her hand and the icy fire in his voice enough to make the three robbers inside the store drop to their knees, putting their hands behind their heads. Danica had the distinct impression that they did not like what they were doing, shooting angry glances at each other and at Ashley, but they were evidently willing to cooperate with the girl with the drawn weapon. Thank God I thought to give us a code for 'just follow my lead!' thought Ashley before a wide-eyed Judy called over her shoulder "Oh mah gawd! Ah can't believe this is happening!" -
"I know you haven't hurt anybody, kid, that's why yer here," said Anna, not unsympathetically. She idly scratched the side of her neck, up where her sweater's collar was especially thick. "I ain't been a saint my whole life either. Not really one now," she admitted with a rueful grin. "But if you do things wrong when yer young, yer gonna do 'em forever unless someone sets you straight. Ain't no Freedom League in this town to give you lessons in do-goodin', that's fer sure. You want some cocoa?" she offered, jerking her thumb back at the small camp kitchen they had set up. "Doesn't take long to boil water on that thing."
-
"Yes, well, um, special training is important," Judy extemporized nervously, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. "Ah don't think Ah can go back to your dimension with you," she said, "not without a lot...of other stuff happenin' first." Maybe Ashley would be okay with it - after all, Leroy's dimension sounded safe enough, and surely the President's daughter needed to know a few things about parallel worlds. "But if you want to take me somewhere, I'd love to go," she said with a smile. " Maybe in the meantime, Ah can take you a few places around town."
-
ic The Slow and the Sensible (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Lantern Hill
Ashley's eyes were very wide, one hand pressed to her ear. Her eyes flicked to Micah for just a moment as she half-heard the conversation with Danica, bulging wide, then she locked eyes with Judy. "Judy, there's a longhorn situation outside." Judy's eyes popped wide too, and she took a step back, shooting a nervous look first at Micah, then at her sister. Oh mah gawd she mouthed, automatically reaching down and squeezing Micah's hand. She caught Ashley's eye and dropped the hand quickly, though, instead ducking down so she was out of view of the glass windows. "Micah, what did Danica say?" Ashley firmly inquired. Watchdog added, a little belatedly "And are you sure it was her?" -
"The order of where we go and how does not matter," opined Lady Horus impatiently. "What matters is that we go, and quickly. There are few things more terrifying than words giving way before one's eyes. As if one's mind has crumbled away to-to the dry dust of the ages." She tapped the map. "Perhaps all of thou may take the factory and I may take the government, then join thee there - perhaps with help." Meanwhile, Anna was frowning. Hang on, is he one of those Terminus freak-a-deaks? She knew that the liberal do-gooders out in Freedom City liked to take people with Terminus powers for granted these days but she'd learned that most people with powers made of evil probably were at least a little bad on the inside. (Except her daughter-in-law, who was one of the good ones.) She was about to offer more advice when of all things, her cellphone beeped. She took it out from a cunningly concealed linen pocket, frowned, and began typing away at it with both hands - before suddenly vanishing out the back door after Mr. Strix. "Mierda," opined a voice from above Mr. Strix in the alley. Looking up, there was an armored figure standing a few levels up on the fire escape, a small rifle cradled in her arms. It wasn't pointed at Mr. Strix, but it wasn't holstered, either. "Is everything a sex thing to you people?" Her cellphone buzzed once, and then again, but Wadjet was too focused to answer it. Then the door flew open again, and Lady Horus shouted up at her. "Wadjet! Girl, thou wert supposed to guard the stronghold!" "Still got me on Life360, huh?" she asked, sliding down a line from the fire escape to ground level, landing so Lady Horus was between her and the vampire. "Not gonna sit there while the city goes loco. Who's your friend?"
-
ic The Slow and the Sensible (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Lantern Hill
Oh thank you Jesus he didn't ask about my mom! thought Judy, who hadn't been looking forward to yet another lie. Maybe I shouldn't try to be his girlfriend, just his friend. This is just too stressful - and not very Christian! "Well I know the little library needs some Frank Peretti books," she said confidently "and maybe some history, like those books they based Hacksaw Ridge and Unbroken on. Ooh, you know," she said, taking a few steps so that she could actually look at Micah, "maybe we could buy those movies and watch 'em! Bring the whole gang!" There was a soft curse. Behind Judy, Micah could see Ashley looking out the window of the store, her face gone bone-white and hand resting on what looked like an over-stuffed equipment belt. ...and at the hour of death, amen, Ashley finished thinking because it was more satisfying than screaming inside her head. Do not engage! Do not engage! Do not engage the girl you know goddamned well is goddamned bulletproof! Okay, maybe swearing inside her head was helpful after all. Meanwhile, in the store, things were getting frosty. At the sudden display of superpowers, the man with binoculars had slid his hand in her jacket and stepped back, only to get a hard elbow in the side from one of the joggers. "It's okay!" called the blonde woman, "we're not robbing the place, Turtle Girl! Listen, this is just one big misunderstanding!" "I'm gonna be fired!" The clerk suddenly seemed to crumple before Danica's eyes, tears welling up on his face. "Because I failed my test! This was a secret shopping day and I failed, and now there's gonna be a superbattle and wreck the store, and I just..." He buried his face in his hands. "I just wanted to get an employee discount for my baby sister!" Binoculars guy had taken his hand out of his jacket but he didn't look happy about it. "You need to put the force field down, miss." -
Steve hung back as the duo left the elevator, aware that Miss Americana was in her element and that distractions were not called for. He was aware of Delta's reaction to Miss Americana (not an uncommon one) and found himself more wryly sympathetic than anything else. Miss Americana was indeed an attractive robot, and Delta was hardly the first man, or woman for that matter, to have quite that body language and tone of voice around her. Still, knowing that Miss Americana was just a robot, he found himself no more jealous than of the men who complimented Gina on her avatar in World of Warcraft. Having already discussed what he knew of Delta's case with Miss Americana, he opted not to speak about that."Good hands," he commented out loud, words that might have been directed to either of them as he headed after them into the complex.
-
"...if thou speaks so plainly of violating ma'at, thou should be ready to pay the penalty for it," said Lady Horus frostily, Anna thinking of her father going on strike and the families eating thin afterwards. "With the speed of Shu, the offices of the petty scribes and clerics can be mine in a day, or less," she said, her words no brag but bold promise. Of course, that didn't solve the problem of who was going to go to the factory, did it? "I-ah, Ronin! Fairly met!" called the goddess, waving her ankh at that worthy's approach. "We plot the destruction of our foes and victory for our tongues." She pointed at the map, considering matters carefully, and said, "If Ronin and Dr. Thorne take the factory, and I and, ah, this fellow take the scribes, we can meet where trouble be found. My allies may aid us as necessary but I think this best dealt with among each other first."
-
"Yeah," said Anna, setting down her cup and giving the boy a serious look. "About that. I been to a lot of places where the so-called heroes don't give a damn about the little people who get crushed under their feet. If yer gonna be with us, you can't do that. Now yer just a kid so I ain't mad, but we need to get you fixed up. When I get the chance, training drills with Lady Horus are going on your agenda." It was a bit more formal than he'd heard her speak, an echo of the stylings of the goddess. "Sounds like she's the only one strong as you around here, them that isn't a villain, anyway." She smirked at the last word.
-
Let me know when there's a thread! =D
-
Sea Devil plz!
-
Let me know what I can do!
-
"Esperanza don't like anybody, honey," said Anna with the amused affection of the old for the young. "It's part of her charm." Up close she didn't sound like the Bedlam natives Chromium had heard; her accent was like something out of a Forties gangster film. "And you shouldn't go pryin' into people's backstories," she added gently. "People around here got a lotta stories, and they may not wanna share 'em with any joe off the street." She swirled a candy cane in her hot chocolate for a moment, then said, "You just make sure nobody tracks us down in here, and we'll call you square." She sipped the hot chocolate, looking out as grey skies began to disgorge yet another layer of snow. This far north, it snowed a lot. "This reminds me of when I was a girl, and it snowed all the time in towns like this. Kids used to go ice-skatin' on the river half the time."
-
ic The Slow and the Sensible (IC)
Avenger Assembled replied to Avenger Assembled's topic in Lantern Hill
That got her a surprised look from the man behind the counter, as well as a distinct flicker from the 'customers' who had been standing by the window. "N-no," the man said truthfully, "but the store is, uh, about to close down for lunch," he lied, making a show of glancing down at the computerized counter he was standing behind. "I know it stinks," he said sympathetically, "but it's company policy to take breaks at, uh, 11. I have to take care of these people first," he offered as he reached behind the counter, "but I can give you a $25 gift card you can redeem online." As he spoke, the other 'customers' in the store were scooping up mismatched items from the counter in front of them and heading to the counter, shooting quick smiles Danica's way like it was perfectly normal for a Claire's to be full of customers who looked about twice Danica's apparent age. -
"Nay, tis but me this day. Nightingale lady is away on a matter of her own kind." Lady Horus studied the map, frowning. "I can cover all these points before Ra sleeps, but I am no detectioner." Sheesh that was not even real Old English! Anna thought, a thought that was hastily interrupted by Mr. Strix's sudden appearance by the refrigerator. She said a word that her helm helpfully translated for her as an Egyptian oath about incest, light flashing in her hands and her cheeks flushing as she declared, "Lo, is this entire dung-brained city overrun with the hungry dead!?" She looked around the office, following Strix's comments, and took in the situation fast. This was a friend of Thorne's and Thorne had always had good judgement in her eyes, and she certainly wasn't in any position to judge people taking in vampires and the like - not for any reasons. "...not that I judge the heroic dead." Which was actually a lie, given the number of dead heroes she despised, but that was a discussion for another time. "I was stricken in the air over the park, and it doth reach as far as Belcher...be there a center to this?"
-
If I have time, Anna will use Quickness to take 20 (reflected by staring annoyedly off into space) - if not, I'll roll... " Random Integer Generator Here are your random numbers: 19 Timestamp: 2018-12-05 22:04:51 UTC " and get a 19 on the roll anyway! So that's either a 27 or a 28. Anna didn't make the Will save vs. the concealment, though!
-
Chromium had his own way in the headquarters after that, leaving him free to explore the upper floors of the old college building despite the creaks and groans his heavy stride caused in some places. Several of the doors were locked and others held empty rooms filled with debris haphazardly swept into the corners, but in others he found a small camp kitchen, library, laboratory, and other resources that would at least make this a homey place to live. Circling back around, he found Anna Cline sitting reflectively by one of several boarded-up windows in the library, looking out reflectively at the snowed-over campus below. "Hey, sport," she said with a smile as she raised a cup of hot chocolate. "You like the place?" She was in a red and green Christmas sweater, and looking quite pleased with herself.