Avenger Assembled

What's happening now?! What's happening to the world?! "Something bad is happening," she croaked, trying to puzzle out their words. She was struck by the realization that a great part of her did not care for what they said and wanted to simply drag the red one (who she was fairly sure was behind Jessie's imprisonment) away (perhaps with the blue one's help) so that Jessie's name could be cleared and she could go home. Another part of her, the one that remembered being in prison herself, held her hand for now. "There are powerful beings here who can help you. But you must help my friend."

Aquaria stared at the two of them, blinking - the green glow of her armor mixing with the red and blue of the glowing bats to cast an eldritch light on the rooftop confrontation. She hadn't ignited her tridents on the leap up here - possibly wise, given how quick to temper Jessie and her sister were. This is neither of them - the voices are not quite right and they do not smell right. What is happening? "I am Sea Devil - and you are not who you look like," she croaked suspiciously. "One of you has been taking things and now my friend is in jail because she looks like you." She thought. She doubted she could defeat Jessie's sister, even in her armor, if they were fighting on the Surface - but these did not look to be friendly sisters. She crouched low, limbs spread apart, and croaked defiantly, "You will tell me what you have done and you will tell people what you have done so that my friend can go home!"

Comrade Frost continued his conversation with Jack, probing him about his views on heroism, the American heroes he knew, and his education at Claremont. He did his best to keep Russia in the boy's thoughts, reminding him that there were plenty of opportunities for honest heroism in the motherland, some attractive girls in the bargain, and a promise of good wages and a reliable pension that the private enterprise world of American supers generally had trouble providing. But he avoided the hard sell - he had years to get to know the boy, after all, and there was no reason to push him now. When the meal was done, Dimitri wrote the check, then asked, "So! You have been good speaker for old man. What can I tell you, hmm?"

Aquaria croaked softly, putting her hands to the side of her head. That voice - those voices - what? It sounded like two people speaking, but they were also the same person!? It made no sense, but she knew the sound of Jessie's voice anywhere. Whatever was happening above her head, she had to find out what it was. She ran forward on all fours and then made a bounding leap, caroming off the side of a large truck before leaping onto the surface of the rooftop where she'd heard the voices. Figuring that stealth was impossible under the circumstances, especially in her glowing armor and against a foe with Jessie's keen senses, she opted for a more direct approach. "WHAT DO YOU DO HERE?" she bellowed, her voice a booming, electronic bass from inside her face-concealing armor.

I am at your disposal, sir!

Free from the helicopter, Comrade Frost took a moment to take in the scenery. The quiet peace of the British countryside, a land whose ghosts lay deep beneath the surface. He had never really cared for rural Britain and the passage of decades and its increasing suburbanization had done nothing to change that impression. "Let us find friend," he said, relying on Russian-accented English for Voin's benefit despite her speaking perfectly good Russian. "Say, is Dreadnought buried with any gold or treasures that you know of?" he inquired cheerfully. "Wonder if it is still his after passage of such times. Difference between archaeology and graverobbing is only intent of digger you know."

On her back, getting beaten down and not able to do much about it, Ashley felt her engagement with the scenario beginning to slip. She knew intellectually what all this was about - the recorded fight was giving Raven a chance to make himself the bad cop, giving an image that he'd be able to 'soften' when dealing with actual teenage vigilantes and others who really needed a hand out. Still, she was a small woman getting her ass kicked by a big man - and it wasn't a lot of fun. Course I did shoot him below the belt. Seems only fair..."Go to Hell, you bastard!" she hissed. "You damn well finish it if you've got the balls!"

So far, so good! Aquaria thought. This city would make a fine Deep One colony with its sun quenched by Hydra's waters - if enough fish and food could be set aside for the . Naia's colony might be reluctant to leave their oil derrick home behind, as the waters thereabout were full of good food and fine meats, but the space in the sunken city would provide room for great numbers of her people. While a Surfacer might have hopped from rooftop to rooftop, she cruised through the waters of the city in comfort, occasionally stopping to devour an eyeless fish that must have been at particular home in the darkness below. Some lights for the ones who do not hear or smell well, she thought, and food to eat, and there will be much room here. At the sound of the Serpent ritual atop the cyclopean tower near the city's heart, she treaded water for a while, considering - thankfully not looking directly at it when that terrible flash of light echoed across the ruined metropolis. I should go talk to them. This was not a safe place for Lemurian magic, not with Surfacers with great power so close by. Floating in the water, she retracted the faceplate of her helmet and took a deep breath. In a great series of bellows clearly audible to those atop the tower, she called "THE WATER-BEARER-IN-HIS-MOUTH COMES! WHO GREETS HER!?"

Anna entered the establishment with the ease of someone familiar with such places in, striding in with confidence and a ready smile. Her companion wasn't someone Caroline recognized - a dark-skinned Latina of college age in a Packets jacket, her dyed-red hair cut boyishly short and hidden beneath a ballcap. The latter moved slowly, and kept a watchful eye on Anna and Caroline both before taking her seat on Anna's right flank, not incidentally putting herself in as clear a position as possible to see the bar mirror. "Caroline, this is Hope. She's my associate," said Anna. "Hope, this is Caroline - she and I go way back...and Caroline, honey, you ain't grown yourself a new liver since I knew you, did you?" It had been blurted out but was no less meaningful for that. "That's gonna kill ya." "Just gimmie a pop," said Hope, putting money down on the counter and ignoring the conversation between the two women.

"In English, in the mode you're using, I would be addressed as Mrs. Lucas," said Monsoon with cool politeness, tilting her masked face as she studied the Red Lynx. "I am more properly Lady Monsoon, or just Monsoon among fellows of royal blood. Don't worry," she added reassuringly, "I had trouble with proper address when I left home for the first time too." She remembered being young, and had no particular desire to make an enemy of someone who might be a peer for a long time to come. "As for small nations, the danger depends on the ruler - and their reasons."

Let me know if any of my characters strike your fancy.

Sea Devil took Miracle Girl's arrival as a sign she was on the right side here. "They are bad!" she croaked triumphantly to the superheroine before diving beneath the water. Gawky she might have been on the Surface, all long limbs and bulbous body, underneath the water she moved with the speed and grace of a shark on the hunt. She swam underneath the boat to throw off her pursuers, not bothering to surface as she swam to the rear of the Surfacer vessel. She knew how these things worked; she'd heard their song in the ocean since she was a child. When she'd reached the stern she took a moment to study the propellers, then after some consideration grabbed not the whirling blades but the metal guards around them that kept debris from being sucked in. Gripping tight with hands strong enough to rip open a dolphin's spine, she bent tighter and tighter, pulling the metal into the propellers to keep them from turning.

Okay, Aquaria is going to dive underneath and inflict a DC 23 Toughness save on the submarine!

Tou vs 24 1: http://orokos.com/roll/611004 = 24 Tou vs 24 2: http://orokos.com/roll/611005 = 30 Fort vs. 20 1: http://orokos.com/roll/611006 = 10 Fort vs 20 2: http://orokos.com/roll/611007 24 she still cannot possibly break the Grapple, even if she wasn't dazed, soo!

Hmm - remember that Sea Devil doesn't have her armor in this thread - so her Impervious is not up.

Aquaria studied the images again and again, as usual frustrated by the limits of Surfacer cameras. The ability to record things and play them back certainly was remarkable, but she might as well have been watching one of Kimber's fellow ghosts when she watched these things for all the detail they provided. Why couldn't they record sound with any true clarity, or all the colors, or smell? No one had ever given her a satisfactory answer to those questions. And she had many questions, sitting underneath the wooden pier back on the mainland where she'd found a comfortable perch. Where would Jessie have gotten those clothes? Neither of the outfits that she was wearing in the videos matched anything Aquaria had seen in Jessie's closet - both outfits were practical enough, full of belts and pouches that would let Jessie carry all sorts of things, but the colors were strange - the reds and greys of the one outfit turned greens and greys on the other. Or _were_ there? After some consideration, Aquaria decided to secure something she could understand better - a physical map from one of the tourist stands above. (She even remembered to pay money!) Spreading out the map, heedless of the staring people and the ones taking pictures of the superheroine in armor, she plotted out the locations of the robberies. The bodegas, the banks, and all the others - they made a line on the map! It had started near Aquaria and Jessie's home in City Center, following towards - the Aquarium! No, wait, she was the one who liked the Aquarium, not Jessie. Well the trail led towards Riverside, anyway. Her blood up, Aquaria left her armor under the docks to hunt briefly in the depths of the river, then headed home to catch a quick nap before her planned stakeout in Riverside. If she was right about the trail, perhaps she would find the real robber there that night!

It's so sad!

vs. Demoralize = http://orokos.com/roll/609885 = 25 Demoralized! vs. Grapple = vs 45, -2 http://orokos.com/roll/609886 48, alas! Go ahead and post, Giz

Puigo got the story - of how many of his fellow Praetorians had disappeared after the last great struggle with the Communion, been absent through the fall of their patron empire and the rise of the Lor, only to reemerge during the final great struggle with the Communion only a few years earlier. "Hundreds of billions died but they were finally defeated. The Praetorians who survived the war have been working closely with the Republic's government ever since. I can put you in touch with our government; I can even possibly find you another Praetorian," said Captain Samran on the intercom. "But I need you to trust me. What's it to be?"

Ashley struggled, the part of her that had been trained by the Raven musing that this was why you didn't get into fistfights with six-foot guys in body armor until you were damn sure you'd softened them up enough from range. Damn, he's strong! She roared in frustration in his grasp, a snarl of anger that was only partially feigned. She cursed him, expending considerably more energy on it than she would have in a real fight, and said, "Gonna rip your #($# off!" She hurt, and was already gonna be purple the next morning - but she had to admit she was enjoying this.

Tou vs 24: 15 She is bruised and dazed! Since this was the endgame for this fight, not gonna spend an HP to beat it, but I will make a reaction post.

There we go! I was hoping her low Grapple would come into play. 18

"Secretly adventuring in British countryside, eh? Ah, brings back memories," said Frost, shooting Voin Zhenschina a winning smile. He'd watched his drink burn down until almost all the liquid was gone, so now he tossed back his fiery drink - and decided it was good. It was of course up to Voin to decide how much of this made it into the hands of British intelligence - for himself he was simply a European metahuman acting on behalf of international accords on a humanitarian mission, and so felt no need to trouble London with this and that of what he might do or observe in the country's interior. If they happen to spy me as I move through their nation, and then spy on me - well, that is their lookout. Aren't we all friends in the shiny new world of the 21st century? "Consider me available to your needs, sir."

Someone save the heroic frog!

Init = 7 Well that's awkward.