Avenger Assembled

"I have little knowledge of the culinary geography of Earth-Prime," conceded Steve, "but Miss Americana informs me that the local food is excellent." He hmmed, remembering his conversation with Gina - who was always one to plan trips and other visits outside of Freedom City to the utmost. "The restaurant adjacent to the Crowne Plaza Hotel came highly recommended." He fell silent again, trying to keep himself talking in order to make the conversation palatable to the active young woman. "I believe the men can finish the work without our supervision. Will you accompany me?" - As they talked, Raina was beginning to feel something - a sensation of pressure all around her, not physical, but like the humidity in the room was growing at an exponential rate despite how dry she knew intellectually it was both inside the air-conditioning and in the near-desert city outside. She wasn't feeling this with her skin, though, or any physical nerves - but rather with the innate sensory abilities tuned to the magical planes all around her. Something was about to happen...

The other Human Tank goes up to Hank and kicks him in the head. http://orokos.com/roll/390420 = I'll Fiat that as a hit, take an HP and roll me a DC 29 Toughness save, Titan! Our Comrade Frost goes for the other Klara with his Vampiric Attack. http://orokos.com/roll/390419 = 22, that hits. DC 27 Toughness save for her - once Hank posts in the OOC.

While Robin and Raina talked, Riley released the former's hand and headed over to Fred, taking the bag from her. "Hey, there's a thought," he said suddenly. Those close, Fred could see the faint burn marks on his face and hands - and his discomfort in an ill-fitting secondhand outfit. But Riley wasn't about to complain, not about himself, anyway. "That stuff you have that speeds cell regeneration - whaddya call it. Didja bring a sample?" he inquired of his fellow scientist. "We were talkin' about doin' a field test anyway..." Riley had always had a pretty rough-and-ready approach to first aid, which had admittedly given him some interesting scars but had always gotten him this far.

On the other end of the portal, Dimitri walked a few steps away before gently setting Leilani down on the grass - notably for once, he was not withering the plants as he laid her down on the ground. Taking a few steps back, he relaxed, the air around him chilling to wintry temperatures again, and nodded expectantly to Ellis, pointing to the woman they'd rescued. "Come now, fellow, a kiss to wake the princess! Then we can talk of grim things like volcano gods and lost time." He hmmed, looking again at Leilani. "Fifty years, I would say," he said, his voice quiet. "Give or take.. I remember when all the girls on the American beaches wore those outfits."

Late April 2016 "May today be the beginning of a long and wonderful life together - and may they be as happy together as we are happy for them, now and forever." Mark thought for a moment, then sighed, setting his pencil and paper down on the beach beside him. The beach was virtually empty right now thanks to a freak cold snap and the early hour - perfect for a little quiet time. As much fun as Trevor's bachelor party had been, it had reminded him that he needed to make sure he had a good wedding toast in mind before the party rather than after it. I don't want to just wing it for Erin and Trevor's big day - but it's so hard to think of what to say instead of just making it up as I go along! He was starting to think the best thing to do would be to sketch out his ideas then just make up the words to go with them once he was up there in front of everybody. And then the sea opened up. Well, not really - but suddenly the shallow surf in front of him rose up in a tower shaped roughly like a man's body, then the water fell away and a figure strode out, smiling at Mark as she walked out onto the sand to join him. He was pretty sure this was a she, anyway, from the shape of the body underneath what looked like an impeccably tailored tuxedo - but the man's outfit and very short black hair were a clue in the other direction. Shaking his head and deciding that gender was maybe not the thing to worry about now, Mark gave a friendly wave. "Hello! I don't think we've met! Do you want to sit down?" "Certainly," said the figure, sitting down and folding athletic, well-toned legs underneath a trimly fit body, evidently heedless of what the sand might do to those impeccably tailored slacks. The water had done no damage to the outfit, though, with nary a trace of moisture on those clothes. the new arrival looked him over, a faint smile on what really was a very pretty face. "You're looking well, Father." Mark actually dropped his pencil at those words, before reaching down and scooping it up again off his lap as he continued the conversation. "I...Clara?" He inquired, giving this person a fixed stare. This didn't look anything like the extra-dimensional daughter he'd had with Erin in a very different life - short, with dark hair and tan skin, this person looked more like the hypothetical kid he might have with..."Nina," he murmured out loud. His future child laughed. "No, I'm-well, I'd better not tell you! I learned from Troy about the problem with letting your parents know your name before you're born. My friends call me Gale. This is April 2016, isn't it? Just before Aunt Erin and Uncle Trevor's wedding?" As they talked, Gale ran a gloved hand through the beach and looked down at the sand that adhered to the white fabric with fascination. "And this must be the beach by the old house." Gale nodded up the bluff, where Mark and Nina's house (for now) rested along with the other cottages in their little seaside development. "Yes..." Mark cocked his head. "Are you here for the wedding? I can probably get you a good seat, and-oh man, wait till I tell everyone you're here! Everyone's going to be so excited to know about the future!" He was ready to bound to his feet, run into the house to where Nina was sleeping off her hangover after the bachelorette party, and tell her that their child was there on the bbeach. "No, no!" said Gale, shaking that gloved hand urgently. "No one can know I was here. You never told anyone, you never even told _me_, until it was time for me to come back here. Sit down, Father, sit down." Reluctantly, Mark did so, his curiosity still writ large on his face, and Gale spoke. "I'm here to tell you that the next few weeks will be...difficult ones. The world will survive it, as it always has, but there will be a...crisis, for a time. And no, I can't tell you what it will be," Gale went on, that musical voice ringing sharp, "because that would create a new timeline - and spoil the purpose for why I came back." "Which was?" As he spoke, Mark's pencil was moving over his notebook - already sketching the outlines of his child's face, body, and costume on the spring morning beach. "You must make sure that Uncle Trevor and Aunt Erin have no interruptions on their honeymoon. They must go to Australia and have a perfectly lovely time there - and you must make sure their time is lovely. That does not mean you should visit them, either," Gale added, pointing a finger at him. "You must make sure that no one interferes with their destiny. I have a - personal stake in the matter." "...all right," said Mark, thinking about Gale's words, and how he could put them into action. "I'll make sure nothing ruins their honeymoon - even if there are problems in the world. Are you sure you can't tell me?" he asked, an unaccustomed note of sharpness in his voice. "Are people going to die, and you know about it?" "Yes," said Gale, giving him a level look. "And there will be others in the future that will so die. You and Mother taught me something about destiny. About how one must shape one's own fate, even if all the world stands against you. The world and its history stand against me here. I cannot change the world without undoing the one I came to protect - but I can protect that one." Mark thought suddenly of the pocket universe on his office desk in Geneva - of the world frozen in a strange imitation of the late 1970s - and of how that world was made. "I understand. Even with all our power, we can't change everything because it doesn't suit us - but if we're lucky, we can change the things that really matter to us." To his surprise, Gale stared at him as if stricken, and suddenly looked away, pulling a handkerchief from the left breast pocket and dabbing at those big dark eyes. "Oh, geez! Are you okay, I'm sorry, I just thought of that." Gale reached down and touched him for the first time, squeezing his hand with strong fingers through those white cloth gloves. "No. No, Father, it's all right. I'm sorry." When Gale looked back, the tears were gone - as if they'd never been on that high-cheekboned face. Gale smiled and stood up, the sand from the beach falling away freely from those still-immaculate clothes. "I need to be going back. The machine couldn't open a doorway to here forever - and they'll be expecting me on the other end. I have some explaining to do, I think." Mark, on his feet, watched as Gale headed for the water again - with a gesture, another shining column of foam rose up in welcome at the immaculate traveler's approach. "Who'll be expecting you? Is it the time police? Because I bet I can take them if they're going to cause you trouble-" "Not the time police!" said Gale, turning, arm half-in and half-out of the standing water. Evidently his offspring couldn't resist one last hint, because he caught a smile on Gale's face as his scion stepped all the way into the welcoming water. "Typhoon!" And with that, the water collapsed - and Mark Lucas was alone on the beach.

Aquaria walked along behind Daedalus, head downcast and three-fingered hands in her pockets. It was the only way to avoid stares from anyone else they'd encounter on the way - and just then she wasn't in the mood to be stared at by Surfacers and their questions. At this time of year, she probably wasn't even going to be called the Christmas Frog again - a label which at least made the juveniles smile their tiny, toothy smiles. Jessie could see Aquaria's head bobbing up and down as they entered the elevator, and knew her friend was mouthing a prayer. Mother Hydra and Father Dagon - remember us as we walk into the mouths of those who are not your people.

Dimitri caught Leilani as she fell, as smoothly as if he and Sandman had practiced the maneuver, supporting her with his inhuman strength in a bridal carry as easily as if she was a child. Drawing in on himself, he held in his cold - frankly far more effort than supporting the young woman's weight. Ah, this happens so often..."Quite a touch you have with the ladies, eh, Sandman?" He winked, then turned to Stesha, still carrying his burden. "Off to Sanctuary, eh?" There were fewer people to worry about there - and no risk of her melting through the deck when she woke up, as she might on the Lighthouse. "Best place for conversation with volcano woman."

http://orokos.com/roll/390132 = 25 She takes a bruise.

Riley was amenable to the cafeteria too, and let himself fall behind the taller people on the way there with a thoughtful look on his face. Once there, he showed an appetite that belied his wiry frame - piling his plate with the chicken curry and assorted Indian food that was on the cafeteria's internationally-minded menu that day. Riley, Cathy knew, loved exotic food; or at least food that was hard to come by in the continental United States. He took a seat close to the wall, his back nearly against one of the beams that held up the building's roof, and shot the room a sharp, intense look before he dug into his food. "They got a good plate here, man. First time I ever had this Indian stuff was from right here, and it's pretty good. So where you from?" he suddenly asked Kyle. "All I hear is somma the girls bitching about you - say you worship Satan just like Sanderson."

To those who didn't speak Lemurian, the exchange between the armored Deep One and the thick-necked chieftain of the Deep One invaders seemed like something better-suited to the Discovery Channel's more obscure spinoffs rather than the middle of a brewing super-battle. They bellowed at each other, necks bulging and mouths gaping impossibly wide, and struck their tridents against the ground - Sea Devil's raising an electric hiss and flashes of light when it hit the damp concrete they stood on, the chieftain's wrought-iron blade bouncing and raising sparks when it did the same thing. Were they exerting dominance over each other? Was it a mating display? It was hard to say if you didn't know them. For those who did speak Lemurian, though, the conversation was easy enough to follow. The chieftain, Water-Scorpion-With-Poison-Fang, was vigorously asserting to his warriors that this was no Chosen One. "/Merely a Surfacer pretender - or worse, some foul apostate! Look at her Atlantean armor!/" For her part, Aquaria was asserting vigorously that she was no Chosen One "merely a daughter of Father Dagon and Mother Hydra, like you!" She made sure to add that "/This is no Atlantean armor - but one won by me in a contest with the sea of stars!/" Her three-chambered heart pounding in her chest, Aquaria added, "If your people are hungry, we can find them food - but this will only bring down their defenders upon your head and-" Suddenly, the noisy argument was interrupted by an even louder sound. "ARRY SMILA!" It came again, along with a boom that shook the ground. "ARRY SMILA!" And then, descending from the sky in a parabola that suggested a distant leap, there came a crash - and down dropped a Deep One. And not just any Deep One, a vast, hulking behemoth that even crouched on all fours towered higher than Aquaria or Water Scorpion was tall, a gigantic creature with wide goggle eyes and a huge gaping mouth. "ARRY SMILA!" it called again, fury in its voice, before leaping away in a gigantic lunge that took it out of the melee of Deep Ones on the ground - and past the evacuation perimeter, where a tremendous crash and the sound of screams told everyone where it had landed. The Deep One crowd was in chaos now, some leaping after the gigantic paragon of their kind that had just arrived (albeit impossibly from land), others still circling Aquaria - and a great many, especially those with children, remaining where they were - some were showing particular interest in the abandoned breakfast carts and other foods left out in the park.

Monsoon hesitated for a split-second. Sharing a burden with Mark, who was effectively a living god (not that she would so much as say that to his face), was one thing - but there were many crying children here, and she certainly couldn't carry them all in one trip. "Yes," she agreed. "Come, everyone, let these others help you as well!" Between ice on the one hand and water on the other and wasn't it strange to be around others with hydrokinesis again, as if she might turn her head and see Farida on the other side the trio of women, albeit at the cost of getting their costume thoroughly marked with blood, soon had the occupants of the log-jammed car on the ground and away from the still-malfunctioning ride. "Thank you for your help," she said with confidence in her voice when they were reunited below. "I am Monsoon."

Aquaria didn't say much after that - instead taking out her moisturizing gel and rubbing it on her arms and face as they went, rolling up her sleeves to expose the greenish-white flesh beneath. Jessie knew it was a sign of how nervous Aquaria was that she was rubbing herself down again; after all, she'd done that even before they left the apartment. But with her hood up and her eyes mostly in darkness; and squishy liquid against her skin, Aquaria could be comfortable on the outside even if she wasn't on the inside. When their car approached Freedom Hall, Aquaria ducked down deep inside her hoodie as they passed by the usual tourists eager for the sight of anyone who might be going to meet a superhero; and croaked a sigh of relief when they pulled into the secure underground parking facility that would connect them to the Hall without having to brave the crowd outside. It was dark and cool down here - just the way she liked it.

"What did you just say?" Riley demanded of Kyle, anger and outrage mixing on his dark features as he hissed up at the other boy. He didn't yell - but the look of quiet, razor-sharp intensity on his face immediately told Kyle there were some truth to the rumors about the other teen. "There's a goddamned creature out in the woods luring people out there and nobody's doing anything about it? What the hell is wrong with-" He turned, before Kyle could respond, and looked away, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, lean body pulled tight like a bowstring. When he spoke, it was in a more normal volume. "I mean...sorry, I mean...sore subject." He swallowed and looked back at the other guys. "Is that what you were asking? You want us to come out there with our team and help you with that?"

Klara's blow knocked the other Comrade Frost back through the wall with a thunderous boom, the ice controller silently smashing through the door of the apartment across the hall and against the far wall inside. Luckily Henry had had no neighbors across the hall at that precise moment - but cleaning that up was still going to be a mess. The other Klara laughed and tried to copy her counterpart, charging for the real Dimitri Peshkov with murderous intent in her glowing green eyes - but the regular Comrade Frost was too fast for her, dropping to the ground as a roundhouse punch wooshed by that would have taken off the top off his head if it had connected. "Deviant filth," she hissed at Frost. "I'm going to enjoy showing you how a real woman treats a man like you."

That hits! http://orokos.com/roll/389352 = 20 Stunned and staggered. OK, other Klara is up. She'll hit our Dimitri! http://orokos.com/roll/389353 = 11

Dimitri hesitated a barely perceptible moment, then smiled his Freedom League smile. "Of course. But since her temperature has not dropped below 450 degrees Celsius since our arrival, suggesting she is a continually active heat source rather than a warmed object that can be cooled by outside forces, porheps you will let me lower the ambient temperature around her so that she does not melt through the floors of your Freedom League facilities, or set Sanctuary on fire." He spread his hands out with a look of casual ease, then gestured to Leilani. "Let us get you to a safer location, and we can talk more there, hmm? Fewer worries about volcano if there is less magma below, eh?"

Monsoon looked up at the log ride and immediately sprang into action - quite literally. She vaulted into the air, propelling herself by her own internal water, and landed on the side of the log ride, careful not to put any weight on the stuck contraption herself. "Come on! I'll get you down!" Of course, she couldn't quite keep her word - while she was fully prepared to grab them all before they hit bottom, that kind of exertion would seriously tax her resources. So she took it more slowly. Luckily there were no too-small children here - but of course that meant more weight among those she had to carry. "I'll take the girl," she told one frightened mother with blood-spattered son and daughter who looked to be perhaps six and nine, respectively. "And you hold your son tight, and do not let him go, all right?" She had dealt with disasters plenty of time working with Mark - and this was no different...well, she thought, looking around at the blood-stained park for a moment as she did her best to accomodate both the child on her back and the parent she was supporting down to the ground, perhaps this was a little different.

"Was a team hereabouts," said Riley with a little shrug. "Name'scool." It wasn't the Freedom League, or any of the other teams that had existed in Freedom City on the night of December 31, 1999 - so it was all right by Riley. "We're kinda the-" He thought for a moment, then realized he didn't really have a good word for what he and his friends at Claremont were. "freaks'a nature, I guess." He studied Lee, then asked, his voice still a little baffled, "So you just eat nuts, or-ah, never mind. Don't needta ask ya lotsa questions about yourself." He laughed nervously, deciding he'd maybe better not ask Lee about eating squirrel - which was too bad, because no one else at that damn school liked hunting. Or if he ever had any other animal urges. From animals more threatening to humans than squirrels. "So whaddya do for fun when yer not talkin' to squirrels?"

The Voidrunner continued their trip through the eerily silent Terran system - and all the while, Aquaria kept herself busy. Hopping around the spaceship, she gathered up all their supplies - the small amount of possessions and other things they'd accumulated during their time as fugitives in space, and pressed them into a mesh bag that was soon joined by what she could find of Jessie's small horde of food. She pressed the bag into Jessie's hand, her gigantic smile twitching with that awkwardness that meant she was particularly forcing the Surfacer facial expression. "Take this, and make sure you keep it when we are on the Surface. Tell them we didn't steal anything - we won it all." Aquaria had, among other things, been jailed for thefts when she'd gone off to Project Freedom. "Remember this? The cup from the swamp place? That was nice." She put it into Jessie's bag too, worrying over her friend as the Voidrunner slowly (relatively speaking) made its way to within sight of Earth - and (once they were even closer) the gleaming jewel of the Lighthouse in orbit.

APPROVED

"Don't be such a sodding wanker, you posh tart," replied the other Bombshell, her voice eerily like Talya but her words decidedly not as she snapped her hand around and struck Bombshell across the face with suddenly-produced batons of her own, the blow breaking skin inside and outside Talya's mouth. "I'm better than you'll ever be - or you ever were. And when all this is done, I'll take everything that's yours."

Klara is up.

Seventy-five years earlier, Dimitri Peshkov looked down at his ice-covered hands and screamed aloud at the realization he would never, never, never feel warm again. "You were changed, child," said Dimitri reassuringly, stepping to one side of Fleur. "But you are still the woman you were - and we will do everything we can to help you. This is the Freedom League - and nothing is beyond their reach." He thought fast, his mind spinning through what Leilani had just said. Time travel. Or suspended animation. He wondered how long she had been imprisoned - would the name of the Freedom League mean anything to her? He spoke, his demeanor noticeably softer, and his English far better than he usually was when working with the League. "I am sorry I frightened you. I am a friend to America today." He looked her up and down, studying the heat patterns over her body that burned hotter than an oven's. "You should be careful of what you touch for now, until you can master what has happened." He shot a glance at Fleur and almost imperceptibly shook his head. Don't touch this one. "But you are safe - and no one will be hurt by you." He extended his hand to her and said, "If you take my hand, I may be able to help cool you down."

Comrade Frost stared at the creature for a long moment as the others went about their work, watching the almost-blinding white heat patterns intently with his bright red eyes. "All right," he said out loud distinctly, "Okay." And with that, he walked past the police and their barricade, directly onto the lava-scorched beach. "Hello," he said warmly, giving the creature a little wave as he approached with the air of someone greeting an old friend. "I am Comrade Frost of the American Freedom League. Welcome to party beach, friend! Pardon my English but my Ignean, it is so rusty, you see?" He smiled, pulling back his parka, as he walked directly onto the molten sand. His boots were smoldering now - and he could feel the infernal heat all around them right through his parka. It was really quite pleasant. "I don't suppose you speak Russian, eh?...Damn." When he was right in front of the creature, occupying all its attention, he gestured around the beach. The molten sand, and other things, at his feet was noticeably beginning to turn to glass - his footprints having turned into islands as he walked. The extra energy had given Dimitri's pale features an almost ruddy glow. "I love what you've done with place, but really, locals might object - they got things to do here, you know?"