Avenger Assembled

All right, well, I'll let Tiff go, then I'll go!

Okay, I think I got it all.

Hyperactive and Weekend Man sped across the streets, byways, and vast open spaces of the great state of Texas until reaching downtown Marfa - nearly missing it, in fact, given that they were going so fast and Marfa was itself a city of less than two thousand people. Marfa was a pretty town, full of art shops and public art, a nice place to visit if you didn't mind being a hundred miles from anywhere in particular. Coming to a stop at the front door of the Presidio County Courthouse gave the heroes their starting point - but also left them with an ominous sight. Clearly visible, thanks to Hyperactive's great speed, was the way the town's few streets were empty save for a few stray dogs and parked cars. As soon as the heroes arrived, though, the town seemed to wake up - people walked out of buildings and got into the cars left in the middle of the road, headed down the sidewalk and greeted each other, and a passing police officer outside the courthouse declared "Howdy, y'all! Welcome to Marfa!" It was all very friendly, full of smiling faces and bustling energy, but it was also not at all right.

Okay, let's post. DC 27 Notice 19 Intimidate, 26 Search I'll hold off an IC post till I get the OOC results!

Okay, I'll give Scion a shot to post here, then we'll move on

"I have come in my perfected body from beyond the Veil to warn you," said Vita's father seriously. "There is an enemy coming which means to-" - "ruin everything! Everything!" Ren looked frightened in a way that even his own death hadn't put in his eyes. "Listen, you can't stay permanently in Heaven, but you and your girlfriend can both come. We can resettle you in one of the other Freedom Cities, one that's far away from all of this. You don't know what they're like, they're-" - "they're killers. Worse than killers." Queenie's former fiancee's mouth was pressed tight in fear. "Worse than anything I've ever seen. Worse than anything the angels have seen. They don't just kill you, or turn you, or anything pretty like that. They wreck the whole damn world and everything they stood for, like going to Heaven and finding the angels want to eat you alive." - "Ah, here we are..." As Vita Nexus and his father had spoken, the later relaying the horrific tale of the coming dimensional corruption, a fiery woman riding a burning rock and her icy companion arriving like figures from a dream. "Let us not be too hasty." "Comrade Frost and this lady of flame will be your companions in this struggle. He bears the burdens we do - but from another master." Sure enough, the cold coming from the Freedom League member was readily apparent as something hungry and draining, not too dissimilar from Vita's own abilities. "Others will join you. I wish I could go with you." He put a hand on his son's shoulder. "I love you, my boy."

(Singularity did not succeed on her Aid action, so let's assume Jessie didn't react in time. It's all on you, Tiff!)

Okay, so we're just waiting on Tiff?

Edited

TM, This looks promising, go ahead and put it in the Character Bank so our refs can take a look at it. Stop by chat if you like!

For a moment or two, the ecstatic crowd thought the cage and transformation was part of the show - until they saw the man inside shouting and pulling unsuccessfully at his smoky bonds, his meaty burden falling to the ground with a thump. "NO SHARIA IN AMERICA! ASLI SADIK IS AN AGENT OF THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD! THERE'S MIND CONTROL IN THE MUSIC! SHE'S TURNING YOU AGAINST AMERICA! AGAINST OUR PEOPLE!" "Stop the music!" yelled one of the men in the crowd, a tall, sturdily-built man in flip-flops, khaki shorts, and a jersey and hat both representing the Atlanta Falcons. "Can't y'all see somebody attacked this man?" "I can't breathe! I can't breathe, aaagh!" the would-be pig-thrower was yelling in what honestly seemed like a loud voice for a man supposedly being suffocated, but who was indeed turning a truly alarming shade of purple.

That will hit - we're now free for reactions!

Woodsman studied the hole for a moment, weighing his hero training against his Woodsman training. The logical thing to do would be to fire his most explosive arrow down the hole and blow up those sons-of-bitches, but what if they were sentient? What if this was just a poorly misunderstood First Contact? What if they ate a human next time? He stepped back, his bow raised, and as Jann watched, he replaced the bolt loaded into his crossbow with a bigger, fatter one that looked a little bit like the rockets that he'd seen humans fire off on holidays. "Three, two, one-" Woodsman mouthed before firing, the bolt igniting as it went, bouncing off the tree trunk Jann still held, and now flying straight down into the hole beneath their feet. "FLY!" Riley yelled, the shout almost startling even to his own ears, as he ducked for cover behind another fallen tree. Five...four...

I'm mixing it up a little for this thread, I'll let everyone select which of their ten rolls they want to use. So that's 22 for Miras, 6 for Scion, Spifire has 18. Monsoon will have 2 for a total of 17. Edge will have 1 for a total of 5. Miras, you spot:

Patrimony - property inherited from one's father or male ancestor. Inheritance law doesn't really work that way in most places anymore. But it can mean a lot of things - it can mean Father's Day, a day you celebrate your male parent. It can mean the Fourth of July - the day you celebrate the nation you inherited from the Founding Fathers. It can mean Confederation Day and the 150th anniversary of a nation inherited from the Fathers of Confederation. And maybe all this talk of fathers means nothing - but there's a story there, too, don't you think? The theme of the June/July vignette is PATRIMONY. Please post them here by July 31. (As a reminder, vignettes follow the same general rules as posts in terms of content, player character limits, and so on. You may have only one vignette per player character. Each vignette should be at least one page (~500 words) in length; if posted in your thread counts at the end of the month, it is worth 1pp for the associated character. An especially long vignette, 1000 words or more, may be worth up to 2pp. Multiple players can collaborate on a single vignette - we recommend Google Docs for this, it's very useful - but the vignette should be about one page per participating player. - Fox)

After some dynamite persuasion from the two heroes, the Assistant Director (whose ID turned out to read "Andrew Drucker") was convinced to tell the heroes where to find his boss. "If you're lucky, maybe he'll make a Very Special Episode out of you," he added with one last sneer as he was taken away. He had not ever actually learned his boss's real name, or at least was able to pretend he didn't under interrogation. Unfortunately, it was a bit of a hike to the Director's lair if he was telling the truth. "The Internet is everywhere - he can see everything! And so will you once you meet him." - if the Assistant Director was telling the truth, the Director evidently made his home in Marfa, a full six and a half hours down I-10 from Austin, deep in the desert of West Texas. Recently discovered as a Bohemian retreat, Marfa _did_ have a reputation for artiness and weirdness...

Edge: http://orokos.com/roll/528009 12, 10, 5, 9, 7, 8, 3, 9, 20, 1 Monsoon: http://orokos.com/roll/528010 19, 2, 14, 5, 7, 15, 15, 5, 19, 7 Okay, taking over for this at Moira's request. Our first die roll will be Notice. Let me know which of your rolls you'd like to apply to that - and what your total is adding the die roll to your Notice ranks.

Short, dark, and very pregnant, Nina al-Darsah bellied up to the bar - a pun that Mark immediately knew his wife would not appreciate, so he wisely kept to himself as he stepped up to the bar alongside her. They were as incognito as two celebrities could be, Mark in a baseball cap and T-shirt emblazoned with DJ Eclectic's logo and Nina in a headscarf and maternity top to match. They looked like one of those recently married couples who had dressed together just for the statement it made - which was about right. "I'll have a Shirley Temple," said Nina with a slightly tired air. "Your son certainly likes the music," she commented to Mark, left hand on her belly. "Same for me," said Mark, restraining the urge to wink at the pretty bartender. His pretty, pregnant, and hydrokinetic wife was right there, after all. "Hey, he's got good taste, just like his mom." He pecked Nina on the cheek, his arm around her shoulders. "This should be fun. Joe says Asli's latest stuff is off the hook. And yes, that is another phrase older than I am, what can I say?" Nina snorted. "Mark, there's already one Lucas poking me in the ribs tonight, I don't need it from both of you."

"Ah, well, this is not uncommon," Dimitri was quick to assure Leilani as they both dressed. The message from Hel had come while he was in her apartment's kitchen over a late breakfast - and he had naturally passed it onto her when he was done. "The dead rise from their graves for great many reasons. Most of them bad ones," he admitted. Leilani herself was an exception to the usual rule - but then she had not died in her time below the waves, but had instead emerged much changed. "Hel's personal intervention is unusual but she will at times take an interest in a great many things." When they were both ready to go, and at her apartment window, he kissed her. "We will finish breakfast meeting for dinner - or porheps tomorrow's breakfast," he added. "These things can take time."

"Okay." Woodsman supposed that flying with Jann would give him more speed, but he was more interested in what he knew - a slow, deliberate advance towards the enemy's stronghold. So he did that, picking his way through the forest and the trail Jann had discovered, his drawn bow slowing his pace but still an important part of his plan of not getting torn to pieces by monsters today. He followed Jann's directions, looking to get a glimpse of the hole in question himself. "Fire?" he inquired of Jann. "Down the hole, chase them out. Smoke'll show other holes too."

Re: speedsters. Just assume that they're easily bored, dumb, or on drugs - all of those have been true for my speedster characters at one time or another! Re: the diplomacy check. Currently Aquaria is at +10 before her edits go through, so I'll use that. 23 Not terrible, but Aid Another bonuses would certainly benefit that!

Okay, go ahead and put up a link here when you've got it, Sand.

Riley closed his eyes, and put the thought that he was surrounded by hostile metas on the grounds of Claremont and that he was about to be eaten alive aside. One - Two - Three. He opened his eyes and looked past Corinne to the Next-Gen girls. "You almost got people killed because you were too lazy to stop and think. You're a bunch of babies whose mommies and daddies kept you from ever skinning your goddamned knees." He pointed outside the Claremont campus, unconsciously in the direction of the Goodman Building, and home. "But that's not gonna last forever." He turned and stalked off, his shoulders and back tense, his hands shoved firmly in his pockets. He hadn't gone for his weapon and he hadn't entertained more than a passing thought about what would happen if he did. All in all, things had gone pretty well for one of these encounters. Next time I am taking Celeste's goddamned braid.

Glad people are back!

Let's see - Comrade Frost seems like the most likely PC of mine to be involved here.