Avenger Assembled

Nina had seen exsanguinations with her own eyes. She'd seen the looks on people's faces when their veins and arteries ruptured and dark mottling bruises spread across their skin - she'd seen the capillaries and orifices gushing blood and other fluids. She'd seen the way the blood ran, so much blood from a single body, across the polished sandstone floor of a Socotran castle. When the pain hit, a celestial, agonizing pain that seized every muscle in her body, she knew exactly what was happening. She tried to hold herself together, her noahic powers all that kept her from exploding on the spot, but as she felt things break inside she knew with exquisite understanding just how bad the damage was. As the world went dark and she felt her body begin to crash to the floor, she thought first of Mark - and then, as her hand clenched convulsively around the brand-new diamond ring on the third finger of her left hand, words that burned their way into the darkness as she mercifully lost consciousness. This is not how Monsoon dies!

Hokay, Reagent is up after EP goes.

http://orokos.com/roll/399325 = 11 Ah, the life of a sidekick! Nina is unconscious.

"Where's a good place to put people?" Edge demanded of the others, his eyes on the oncoming locust swarm, his thoughts on Erin and Trevor in Australia. "All the people," he clarified, heedless of any disbelieving looks sent his way from his newfound allies. "I can take care of the evac; it's what I do for UNISON. But where, like, the park, or an island in the river, or..." He shrugged. "I dunno anything about London or where stuff is! But if you need me to, I can move people out from where the swarm is."

That does hit! http://orokos.com/roll/399026 = bruised and dazed!

APPROVED

"All right, hang on." While his wife searched psychically, Fast-Forward disappeared into the closet long enough to come out with what was obviously a vintage Walkman - and in his familiar black and white costume. "I've done this before," he commented to the detectives as he slid a cassette tape into the belt-mounted unit, then slid the headphones onto his ears. "Even when I speed up how fast I see things in my head, searching the whole city takes forever and a day. I'm gonna go look for Errant - and this Horatio guy. You go check your room, boy, and I'll meet you outside." There was no reason to broadcast his son's secret ID any further than it already was - not when Andy Griffith and Barney Fife were right there. "I'll be back," he said at the door in a distinctly Austrian accent before he stepped out onto the porch steps - and began to run! As he ran, the city seeming to slow to a crawl all around him (even as he himself sped up), Richard pressed the button on his Walkman. It was his favorite running song.

11:59PM "What a mess," croaked Aquaria cheerfully, tri-bladed spear over her shoulder as she studied the remains of the party. There were Surfacer guests here and there still on the estate, she knew, but with the dancing floor empty and the food people gone, now it was time for the cleanup. She'd stayed away from most of the party, aware of how different she was from everyone else and of how strange such a great crowd of Surfacers could be, but what she'd seen had told her how much fun everyone had had. Surfacer pairings were very different than matings among the children of Dagon and Hydra - but she was sure Erin and Trevor would be happy despite all that. And maybe Jessie would pair off someday too, when the wounds in her soul had healed and her pod-sister felt like a human being again. No one should have to be alone. In the comforting cool darkness of the night, the air moist with the promise of the rain that had stayed away all the day, Aquaria crouched in the middle of the now-deserted dancing floor and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the Hunter estate all around her, and sang. "Look at me, great male. My legs are strong and my teeth are sharp as your spear. I see you, great male. Your crest is tall and your eye is sharp as my blade. Son of Lord Dagon. I am Hydra's daughter. Let us be as them. Let us be as one. Let us be male and female. Let us be together." It was not the first time Aquaria had sung the mating song, all alone and hundreds of miles from her fellow Deep Ones - but today, maybe because the day itself had been about together - she didn't feel alone. She went to work, hopping around the dance floor and onto the nearby grass, gathering up forgotten napkins, bits of paper and plates, and other debris left behind by the ceremony, her keen eyes letting her see in the dark of the Surface as easily as she did in the light places beneath the waters. She took the opportunity to help herself to one of the crawling mammals that lived on the estate and came out at night, snatching it up with her tongue and swallowing it whole, wriggling and delicious. When she was done, she took up a rake and aggressively combed at the grass, gathering up all the things that wouldn't decay naturally into the plants, and put them all in the big garbage bags she'd already filled up and left on the wooden dance floor. She sniffed things out as she went, finding treasures like a forgotten piece of cake (which joined the rodent in her belly), horrors like the garments that absorbed the foul-smelling waste of Surfacer young, and certain mysteries. How did underclothing get up in that tree, she wondered as she climbed down one of the new trees Fleur de Joie had grown after the...problems of that morning. Or is this the one those two warriors on the roof shot? It has a bolt in it, but maybe that was later...She wasn't sure if the underclothing was male or female, only that someone must have thrown it up there with great force at some point during the festivities. I'd better save it, she decided, I don't think it would taste very good - and someone might want it later. It joined some of the other treasures she'd found; a child's toy, a forgotten telephone, and other items that people might come looking for the next day. That night, after carefully texting Jessie to let her know she was staying over at the estate, she slept in the pond - and dreamed of deep waters, and companionship.

Hokay, I'll hit this myself tomorrow - hopefully give Zen Gypsy a chance to get in a post!

New round! Echo: 33 Fly-Guy: (Bound and Helpless) 26 Asad: 25 El Huracan: 22 Sparkler: 20 Harrier: 16 Echo is up.

Caradoc, having flown in during the melee and the distraction provided by the heroes inside the penthouse apartment, took this opportunity to subdue the raving monster, pleased at both the words and fire of the young people and how they successfully subdued the beast (and destroyed its minions) before it could do any real damage. Or was it a beast at all? Acutely aware that appearance did not mean wickedness, he opted for a less violent approach than his usual dealings with seeming monsters. He crept up behind the fly humanoid and suddenly grabbed it from behind, thick, steely arms wrapping around a bloated torso as he lifted the creature up and off its feet. Gossamer wings thrashed angrily against his back as the stench of rotting meat filled the air; and Caradoc was glad for the metallic filters between himself and the rest of the world. "Argh! What do you mean, he's not here! Screw you, pretty boy!" The fly monster bellowed in Spanish, writhing angrily in Harrier's grip. "Do you know what he put me through? Do you know what I had to do to get my revenge!?"

Caradoc is going to attempt a grapple. Attack vs DC 22 = http://orokos.com/roll/398403 = 23 http://orokos.com/roll/398401 = 37 http://orokos.com/roll/398406 = 27 Fly Guy is Bound and Helpless...for now!

Go go go!

Shoot, looks like my post here never made it up. That works, EP. Go ahead and post - you've got 24 hours!

Okay, so it looks like Waverider is currently up, then old Bear-Face-Pee himself!

After a few minutes, Aquaria hopped out of the ship just behind Jessie, looking rather different than when she'd left. The Deep One was wearing nothing but what looked like a tightly-fitting, ornate spacesuit (without a helmet) that gleamed with visible power running through internal veins. She stood, shoulders hunched and three-fingered hands before her like a praying mantis, big eyes downcast. Finally, she croaked mournfully, "Everything that happened in the sea of stars was my fault. All Jessie was trying to do was help me and stay alive. If you want me to leave the Surface, I'll do it. Jessie will be okay, she's stronger than she knows she is. These are our star-pod," she said, indicating the crew of the Voidrunner. "They saved us from the many monsters in the stars."

April 30, 2016 It had started small - a hemokinetic terrorist attacking Ocean Heights Amusement Park one day, a strange Deep One migration in New England. Then the situation had seemed to grow more serious - a misguided fly monster in Nuevo Laredo who spoke of a day of vengeance and a divine appointment, followed by a diseased specter in the West End bearing horrific diseases where she went. By the time a shambling monster in Sicily had come bringing boils and pain wherever he went, followed by flaming thunderstorms in Washington - the heroes of Earth knew the crisis they faced. By the time locusts blotted out the skies over London, and darkness did the same over Claremont Academy the very next day, they knew who was behind it - August Roman, the once-Emperor of Crime, infused with the powers of the Devil. But where would he strike? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Freedom City Port Regal Fast-Forward was doing magic in the backyard. World-ending threats were one thing to Richard Cline but the idea of something happening, something targeting Freedom City and probably the world, that targeted first-born sons, was his little boy in his arms, spinning him around so fast that they tunneled through the earth was something that he needed to do everything in his power to prevent. The first time Will had tripped and fallen, holding his bloody knees and crying inconsolably. The broken bodies of the victims of the Terminus Invasion, scattered at his feet. Outside in the yard, Richard ran faster and faster, tracing out the patterns of the stars at his feet, trying to find the unholy disturbance in the starry patterns that would mean a fallen angel come to Earth. Across the world, others were watching too, and waiting - ready to defend it.

"Everyone in the Republic has lost someone," said Frankan, looking all her years for a moment. "We've all had to make sacrifices we never thought we'd have to make." Her snowy-white brows lifted. "I know there's talk of secession in the outer arms. People look at the new Senate and they wonder - who's going to protect the Republic now? What do we have left, when we've lost our hearthworld?" She gave Corona a frankly direct look. "I know your record, Aya. With defenders like you, I'm confident that the Republic will survive this crisis - the greatest in our history. What I'd like us to do is work together on this." She pressed a few buttons on her desk and summoned a holo of the Praetorians; one Corona recognized as a recent publicity image. "You've worked with our alien allies longer than any serving line officer. What can you tell me about the Praetorians? The things that haven't made it into your official reports," she added with a faint smile. "I've read them all."

http://orokos.com/roll/397279 = 19! He is Distracted; at least until his turn comes up! Sparkler is up.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/j-k-rowling-shows-off-the-international-wizarding-worl-1756228214 I had a lot of skepticism about this - I wonder if there's a way to do a better version here. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Herman OK, here's your alternate Zatara. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_Beverly_Randolph His Victorian predecessor.

Erin and Trevor watched the spaceship execute a pitch-perfect landing on the tarmac, the armed Marines that were providing their 'escort' keeping a discreet distance from the Voidrunner and the two superheroes. There wasn't much the troops stationed at Lonely Point could do if the space visitors decided to cause trouble, but that didn't mean they wouldn't try. The Freedom League had been contacted too - but the Freedom League was willing to let the descendant of their parent organization handle this 'contact.' The ship's engines stopped roaring and it seemed to power down, alien metals cast a dull grey beneath the overcast sky overhead. The only hole in the clouds, in fact, was the opening the Voidrunner itself had made on its way down, an eye from above seeming to peer down at the scene below.

Okay, tell me what rolls you need.

Okay, EP, what do?

Ah, dude! http://orokos.com/roll/397015 = Init is 18.

Okay, what needs to happen now, TV?